Jakarta –
President Sri Lanka Gotabaya Rajapaksa managed to escape to the Maldives using a military plane. After Rajapaksa’s flight abroad, Sri Lanka declared a national emergency.
Reported by AFP Wednesday (13/7/2022), Rajapaksa fled with his wife and a bodyguard on the military plane Antonov-32. The plane took off from the main international airport bound for the Maldives on Wednesday morning local time, according to immigration sources.
“Their passports are stamped and they board a special air force plane,” an immigration official involved in the process told AFP.
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO RESUME CONTENT
–
Rajapaksa had vowed at the weekend to step down on Wednesday and pave the way for a “peaceful transition of power”, having fled his official residence in Colombo just before tens of thousands of protesters stormed him.
As president, Rajapaksa has immunity from arrest. He is believed to have wanted to go overseas before resigning to avoid possible detention.
Announce a State of Emergency
The country hit by the economic crisis then declared a national emergency. The announcement of the status was made after Rajapaksa fled to the Maldives. It has not been announced how long this national emergency will be declared in Sri Lanka.
“Since the president was abroad, a state of emergency has been declared to deal with the situation in the country,” Dinouk Colombage, spokesman for Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, told AFP.
Police will also impose an indefinite curfew across the Western Province, which includes the capital Colombo. The curfew was imposed to contain the protests that developed after Rajapaksa flew to the Maldives on a military plane.
Meanwhile, thousands of demonstrators had swarmed the prime minister’s office on the same day Rajapaksa fled. Police fired tear gas to keep them from storming the compound.
“There are ongoing protests outside the prime minister’s office in Colombo and we need a curfew to contain the situation,” a senior police officer told AFP.
He said they had been given orders to crack down on demonstrators who interfered with the functioning of the state.
See also the video ‘Prime Minister of Sri Lanka Appointed Acting President’:
Read more on the following page.
–
