Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa flies out of country, lands in Maldives

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa flew out of the country on Wednesday, said officials as quoted by AFP. As per reports, Rajapaksa left for Maldives in a military plane. The Sri Lankan President landed in the capital of the Maldives, Male, in the early hours of Wednesday. He reportedly arrived in Male at around 3 am local time.

Immigration officials told the news agency that Rajapaksa, his wife and a bodyguard were among four passengers on board an Antonov-32 aircraft. The aircraft reportedly flew from the main international airport.

Earlier reports surfaced that Rajapaksa's attempt to fly out of the country was thwarted by immigration officials. Notably, the Sri Lankan President wanted to fly out of the country before stepping down from the post on Wednesday, i.e. July 13, to avoid being detained. As the President of Sri Lanka, Rajapaksa enjoys immunity from arrest. As per per protocol, he needs to send resignation to the chief justice of Lanka and a copy of it to the Prime Minister and the speaker of parliament

On Saturday, the Sri Lankan President fled his official residence after thousands of protesters stormed the building. Rajapaksa reportedly boarded Sri Lanka Navy Ship SLNS Gajabahu anchored at the Colombo Port. Later in the day, Rajapaksa agreed to resign. The embattled Sri Lankan President reportedly wanted to flee to the United Arab Emirates. However, staff at Bandaranaike International Airport withdrew from VIP services. They insisted that all passengers had to go through public counters.

Sri Lanka is facing an unprecedented economic crisis, since its independence. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the country was pushed further into economic turmoil. The country was unable to pay for imports of fuel, and other essential items due to an acute shortage of foreign exchange.
Notably, once hailed by many in Sri Lanka as heroes for winning the civil war against the LTTE, the Rajapaksa brothers -Mahinda and Gotabaya - are now being blamed for the country's worst economic crisis.