Sri Lanka president flees to Maldives ahead of expected resignation

Gotabaya Rajapaksa, his wife and bodyguard left on an Antonov-32 military aircraft in a possible prelude to his resignation.

Sri Lankans crowd the grounds of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's official residence in Colombo. Picture: AFP.

Sri Lanka’s embattled president flew out of his country to the Maldives on Wednesday, in a likely prelude to his resignation after months of widespread protests against his island nation’s worst-ever economic crisis.

Hours after Gotabaya Rajapaksa landed in Male, the office of Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe declared an indefinite nationwide state of emergency.

“Since the president is out of the country, an emergency has been declared to deal with the situation in the country,” a spokesman said.

Mr Rajapsksa had promised at the weekend to resign on Wednesday and clear the way for a “peaceful transition of power” after fleeing his official residence in Colombo just before tens of thousands of protesters overran it. As president, Mr Rajapaksa enjoys immunity from arrest, and he is believed to have wanted to go abroad before stepping down to avoid being detained.

He, his wife and two bodyguards were the four passengers on board an Antonov-32 military aircraft that took off from Sri Lanka’s main international airport. On arrival in Male, they were driven to an undisclosed location under police escort, an airport official in the capital said.

Smiling Sri Lankans again thronged the corridors of the president’s official residence after his departure on Wednesday, with young couples walking around hand in hand in a mood of quiet celebration.

“People are very happy, because these people robbed our country,” said retired civil servant Kingsley Samarakoon, 74. “They’ve stolen too much money, billions and billions.”

But he held little hope for an immediate improvement in Sri Lanka’s plight. “How are people going to run the country without money?” he asked. “It’s a problem.”

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has fled to the Maldives. Picture: AFP.

The departure of the 73-year-old leader once known as “The Terminator” had been stymied for more than 24 hours in a humiliating stand-off with immigration personnel in Colombo.

He had wanted to fly to Dubai on a commercial flight, but staff at Bandaranaike International withdrew from VIP services and insisted that all passengers had to go through public counters.

The presidential party was reluctant to go through regular channels, fearing public reactions, a security official said, and as a result, missed four flights on Monday that could have taken them to the United Arab Emirates.

Clearance for a military flight to land in nearby India was not secured, a security official said, and at one point on Tuesday the group headed to a naval base with a view to fleeing by sea.

Rajapaksa’s youngest brother Basil, who resigned in April as finance minister, missed his own Emirates flight to Dubai early on Tuesday after a standoff of his own with airport staff. Basil — who holds US citizenship — tried to use a paid concierge service for business travellers, but airport and immigration staff said they had withdrawn from the fast-track service. Basil had to obtain a new US passport after leaving his behind at the presidential palace when the Rajapaksas beat a hasty retreat to avoid mobs on Saturday, a diplomatic source said.

Official sources said a suitcase full of documents had also been left behind at the stately mansion along with 17.85 million rupees ($73,500) in cash, now in the custody of a Colombo court.

Mr Wickremesinghe’s office confirmed that Gotabaya had left the country, but said it had no schedule for any resignation announcement. He is accused of mismanaging the economy to a point where the country has run out of foreign exchange to finance even the most essential imports, leading to severe hardships for its 22 million people.

If he steps down as promised, Mr Wickremesinghe will automatically become acting president until parliament elects an MP to serve out the presidential term, which ends in November 2024.

But Mr Wickremesinghe has himself announced his willingness to step down if consensus is reached on forming a unity government.

The succession process could take between three days — the minimum time taken to convene parliament — and a maximum of 30 days allowed under the statute. If Mr Rajapaksa does step down Wednesday, the vote would take place on July 20.

The leader of the main opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya party, Sajith Premadasa, who lost the 2019 presidential election to Mr Rajapaksa, has said he will stand for the position.

Sri Lanka defaulted on its $51-billion foreign debt in April and is in talks with the International Monetary Fund for a bailout.

AFP