Sri Lankan President leaves Maldives for Singapore
How Sri Lanka became a troubled country
Elements of the Sri Lankan army clashed with citizens in the streets.
AFP
The presidential palace is empty except for members of the army.
AFP
Happiness appears on the faces of Sri Lankans as they leave the presidential palace.
AFP
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Sri Lanka's President Gotabaya Rajapaksa left the Maldives yesterday on a Saudi Airlines flight to Singapore, an official at Male' airport told AFP, a day after he fled Colombo to the atoll.
The airport official indicated that President Rajapaksa, his wife Ayuma, and their two bodyguards were taken to the plane minutes before it took off from Velana International Airport in Male, the capital of the Maldives.
Sri Lanka's president fled his residence on Saturday after protesters stormed his home, blaming Rajapaksa for his mismanagement, at a time when the country is going through the most serious economic crisis in its history.
On Wednesday, he managed to escape from Colombo to the Maldives.
The Maldivian press reported that the President of Sri Lanka was mocked and insulted while leaving Velana Airport, while a protest was held in the capital, Male, to demand the Maldivian government not to allow him to leave safely.
And the media in the Maldives confirmed that the Sri Lankan president spent his night at the luxurious Waldorf Astoria Itafushi hotel.
According to security sources, Rajapaksa may announce his resignation after leaving the Maldives, after he was expected to step down on Wednesday.
"A letter of resignation had been prepared (...) which the speaker of parliament will publish as soon as he receives the green light," one of these sources told AFP.
According to diplomatic sources, the United States rejected Rajapaksa's visa application, because he had renounced his US citizenship in 2019 before running for president in Sri Lanka.
Demonstrators leave the buildings of public institutions
For their part, the anti-government demonstrators in Sri Lanka, who stormed the house of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa last weekend, announced that they will leave the presidential buildings they stormed.
"We will withdraw peacefully from the presidential palace, the presidential secretariat and the prime minister's office immediately, but we will continue our struggle," a spokeswoman for the protesters said.
Hours before the demonstrators announced their withdrawal, the police repulsed the demonstrators who tried to enter Parliament.
On Wednesday, protesters stormed the offices of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe after storming the presidential palace on Saturday, forcing the president to flee the country.
About 85 people were injured during the confrontations and a man was killed when he suffocated with tear gas.
Wickremesinghe, who was appointed acting president, ordered the evacuation of public buildings and ordered the security forces to do "whatever is necessary to restore order."
Sri Lanka declared a state of emergency after the head of the country, which is in serious crisis, fled to the Maldives, while the demonstrators are demanding the resignation of the prime minister in light of an unprecedented crisis since 1948, the year of independence for this island of 22 million people.
What happened to the economy?
The tourism sector, which is vital to the island's economy, suffered the repercussions of terrorist attacks in April 2019 on churches and hotels (279 people were killed, including 45 foreigners), and then the "Covid-19" pandemic.
The largest tax cuts in the island's history, granted by Gotabaya when he became president, emptied state coffers.
Sri Lanka found itself without enough foreign currency to import the food, medicine and fuel it needed.
Despite aid from India and other countries in April 2022, the country defaulted on its $51 billion external debt and is seeking a bailout from the International Monetary Fund.
What are the consequences for the population?
Sri Lankans have been living for months with food and medicine shortages and power cuts, due to a lack of fuel that also limits mobility.
Accelerating inflation (55% in June alone) makes the few things that can still be found unobtainable.
The United Nations has warned that the country faces the risk of a major humanitarian crisis, after more than three-quarters of the population were forced to reduce the food they receive.
Who are the Rajapaksa brothers?
Gotabaya Rajapaksa, 73, has been president since 2019 and is part of a family that has dominated political life in Sri Lanka, home to 22 million people, for decades.
His brother Mahinda, 76, is the head of the family with a strong presence and held the presidency of the country for a decade until 2015. During his reign, Sri Lanka turned into a country that is heavily indebted to China, which was contracted with huge debts to finance major infrastructure projects that have been suspected of corruption.
Mahinda has the support of the ethnic Sinhalese majority because he defeated the Tamil Tigers in 2009, ending 37 years of civil war.
At the time, Gotabaya was the Minister of Defense and commanded the armed forces and the police.
Upon assuming the presidency, Gotabaya appointed his brother as Prime Minister, but Mahinda was forced to resign in May after violent clashes between police and protesters.
How did the Rajapaksa brothers respond to the crisis?
After months of demonstrations, supporters of the president violently attacked protesters in May.
Nine people were killed and hundreds injured in the clashes that led to the resignation of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, the president's brother.
Mahinda resigned as prime minister and was escorted by security forces when leaving his residence, but Gotabaya clung to power and replaced him with veteran politician Ranil Wickremesinghe, 73.
Wickremesinghe has little to show for it and last week protesters set his house on fire even as he offered to quit.
But he was not at home.
President Rajapaksa fled Sri Lanka on Wednesday to the Maldives.
What now?
Rajapaksa on Wednesday appointed Wickremesinghe as acting president in his absence.
A successor is supposed to be chosen by a vote in Parliament within a month of Rajapaksa's stepping down.
But the speaker of parliament promised to choose a new president within a week.
However, it is not clear if anyone will be able to muster sufficient support among lawmakers to succeed Rajapaksa.
Despite aid from India and other countries in April 2022, the country defaulted on its $51 billion external debt and is seeking a bailout from the International Monetary Fund.
The Maldivian press reported that the President of Sri Lanka was ridiculed and insulted while leaving Velana Airport, while a protest was held in the capital, Male, to demand the Maldivian government not to allow him to leave safely.
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