"Rajapaksa would most likely proceed to another Asiancountry, source said"

Reuters/ Dhaka Tribune

July13, 2022 9:13 AM

SriLankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country early on Wednesday, twosources told Reuters, hours before he was due to step down amid widespreadprotests over his handling of a devastating economic crisis.

Rajapaksa,his wife and two bodyguards left aboard a Sri Lankan Air Force plane, animmigration official told Reuters.

Agovernment source said he left for the city of Male, the capital of theMaldives. The president would most likely proceed to another Asian country fromthere, the source said.

Theimmigration official said authorities could not under law prevent a sitting presidentfrom leaving the country.

Rajapaksawas due to step down as president on Wednesday to make way for a unitygovernment after thousands of protesters stormed his and the prime minister’sofficial residences on Saturday demanding their ouster.

Thepresident has not been seen in public since Friday. Parliament will elect hisreplacement on July 20.

TheRajapaksa family, including former prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, hasdominated the politics of the country of 22 million for years and most SriLankans blame them for current problems.

Thetourism-dependent economy was hammered badly by the Covid-19 pandemic and afall in remittances from overseas Sri Lankans, while a ban on chemicalfertilizers damaged farm output. The ban was later reversed.

TheRajapaksas implemented populist tax cuts in 2019 that affected governmentfinances while shrinking foreign reserves curtailed imports of fuel, food andmedicines.

Petrolhas been severely rationed and long lines have formed in front of shops sellingcooking gas. Headline inflation hit 54.6% last month and the central bank haswarned that it could rise to 70% in the coming months.

MahindaRajapaksa, the president’s brother, resigned as prime minister in May afterprotests the family turned violent. He remained in hiding at a military base inthe east of the country for some days before returning to Colombo.

InMay, the Rajapaksa government appointed Mohammed Nasheed, the speaker of theMaldives parliament and a former president, to help coordinate foreignassistance for crisis-hit Sri Lanka.

Thesame month, Nasheed publicly denied allegations that he was helping Mahinda Rajapaksasecure haven in the Maldives.

Theprotests against the Sri Lankan government have simmered since May but eruptedafresh last Saturday when hundreds of thousands of people surged into Colomboand occupied key government buildings and residences.

OnTuesday, immigration officials prevented another of the president's brothers,former finance minister Basil Rajapaksa, from flying out of the country.

Itwas not clear where Basil Rajapaksa, who also holds US citizenship, was tryingto go. He resigned as finance minister in early April amid heavy streetprotests against fuel and food shortages and quit his seat in parliament inJune.