13 (EUROPE PRESS)
The president of Sri Lanka, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, fled to the Maldives on a military plane on Wednesday, after announcing that he would resign, and at a time when the Asian nation is going through an unprecedented crisis that has led to major protests.
The Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) has confirmed that it has granted an early morning flight for Rajapaksa and the first lady, along with two security officials and former finance minister Basil Rajapaksa — the president’s brother — -, will fly to the Maldives, as reported by the Sri Lankan newspaper ‘Daily Mirror’.
SLAF has assured that the flight has been granted in accordance with the powers that the Sri Lankan Constitution confers on a President of the Executive, at the request of the current Government, with the full approval of the Ministry of Defense and subject to immigration, customs and all relevant legislation.
The 73-year-old head of state would have arrived in the capital of Maldives, Malé, around 03:00 (local time), and after the United States had rejected his visa application hours earlier, according to the British network BBC. .
Rajapaksa has departed aboard a military plane, ending a family dynasty that has ruled the country for decades.
Rajapaksa was scheduled to officially step down on Wednesday, allowing Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe or another leader to be sworn in by parliament to take up the post on an interim basis. The interim president is expected to be elected no later than July 20 and pending elections, which should not be held later than March 2023.
Rajapaksa thus gives in after several months of protests over rising prices and lack of food, medicine and fuel. The popular revolution that ended up breaking out this Saturday — with images of people breaking into luxurious official residences, including that of the president — has thus forced the definitive fall of the Rajapaksa family, after Gotabaya forced his brother Mahinda to leave office in a futile attempt to quell the protests.
Mahinda’s successor, Ranil Wickremesinghe, Rajapaksa’s old rival and the president’s last option to solve the crisis, ended up resigning hours earlier to make way for a concentration government whose main function will be to call new elections.
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