July 13,2022:Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has fled the country, hours before his promised resignation amid widespread protests over his handling of the country’s worst economic crisis since independence in 1948.
Rajapaksa, his wife and two bodyguards flew on a Sri Lankan Air Force plane to Male, the capital of the Maldives, the Sri Lankan Air Force confirmed in a statement on Wednesday.
“Under the provisions of the Constitution and on a request by the government, the Sri Lanka Air Force provided a plane early today to fly the president, his wife and two security officials to the Maldives,” the statement said.
News agencies earlier reported the president’s departure for Male, citing unnamed government and immigration officials.
The president had said he would resign on Wednesday to make way for a unity government after tens of thousands of protesters stormed his official residence on Saturday, demanding he step down.
Rajapaksa, who helped end the country’s long-running civil war as defence secretary during his elder brother’s administration more than a decade ago, was elected president in 2019 promising security and stability.
“Under the provisions of the Constitution and on a request by the government, the Sri Lanka Air Force provided a plane early today to fly the president, his wife and two security officials to the Maldives,” the statement said.
News agencies earlier reported the president’s departure for Male, citing unnamed government and immigration officials.
The president had said he would resign on Wednesday to make way for a unity government after tens of thousands of protesters stormed his official residence on Saturday, demanding he step down.
Rajapaksa, who helped end the country’s long-running civil war as defence secretary during his elder brother’s administration more than a decade ago, was elected president in 2019 promising security and stability.
