Sri Lanka has declared a state of emergency after president Gotabaya Rajpakasa fled the country, news agency AFP reported. Hundreds of furious protestors have been attempting to enter the premises of the Sri Lankan prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s residence, as they breached the security deployment amid tear-gas shelling.
Gotabaya fled to the Maldives on a military jet, hours before he was supposed to step down in the face of a public revolt against him and his family for mishandling the economy that has bankrupted the country. The 73-year-old leader left the country along with his wife and two security officers on a military jet, a brief statement from the Sri Lanka Air Force said.
“On government request and in terms of powers available to a president under the Constitution, with complete approval from the ministry of defence, the president, his wife and two security officials were provided a Sri Lanka Air Force plane to depart from the Katunayake international airport for the Maldives in the early hours of July 13,” the statement said.
The prime minister’s office also confirmed that the president had left the country.
Rajapaksa, who enjoys immunity from prosecution while he is president, fled the country before resigning to avoid the possibility of arrest by the new government. On Saturday, Rajapaksa had announced to step down on Wednesday after thousands of protesters stormed his official residence, blaming him for the unprecedented economic crisis that has brought the country to its knees.
