President flees Sri Lanka
Rajapaksa settles in the Maldives
7/13/2022 1:07 am
Sri Lanka’s President Rajapaksa is out of the country. After spending the whole day with his wife in the VIP lounge at Colombo airport, a military plane takes off in the evening with the two of them on board. But the goal is different than originally planned.
Sri Lanka’s controversial President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country after mass protests over the severe economic crisis and went to the Maldives. The 73-year-old left Sri Lanka at night on board a military plane together with his wife and a bodyguard. He later landed in the Maldives, according to a local airport official, and was taken to an undisclosed location under police protection.
Rajapaksa fled the presidential palace in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo on Saturday, just before thousands of protesters stormed the property. He then announced his resignation for Wednesday to allow for a “peaceful transfer of power”.
He had spent Tuesday in the VIP lounge at Bandaranaike Airport trying unsuccessfully to leave the country. According to local media, Dubai was originally his destination. According to observers, he wanted to avoid a possible arrest. The head of state is accused of mismanagement of the economy. As long as he is still president, he enjoys immunity from prosecution.
The island state is currently experiencing a massive economic crisis. The government was recently no longer able to finance the most important imports such as food, fuel and medicines. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka has asked the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Russia for help.