Days after his announcement to resign from the top post, Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his family on Wednesday fled to Maldives.
Colombo: An Emergency has been declared in Sri Lanka on Wednesday amid heightened protests after Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa escaped to Maldives recently. The streets, mainly in Colombo, are now filled with violent protestors even as security forces are firing tear gas shells at them to quell the agitation.
Meanwhile, in a televised message, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said he has asked the military to do whatever it takes to restore peace. The demonstrators “want to stop me from discharging my responsibilities as acting president…We can’t allow fascists to take over”, he said.
Days after his announcement to resign from the top post, Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his family on Wednesday fled to Maldives. According to the reports, Rajapaksa was received by Maldivian government officials at the airport in Male early morning.
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Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena said Rajapaksa has appointed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as the acting President while he is abroad. Rajapaksa had earlier said he will resign on Wednesday to pave way for a “peaceful transition of power”. His announcement came after he escaped from his residence in Colombo moments before thousands of protestors stormed into his official residence.
Thousands of demonstrations who stormed Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s house on Saturday claimed that they found millions of rupees from there. The protesters, however, have handed over the confiscated money to security forces.
According to unverified videos on social media, the protesters could be seen counting money which they claimed have found at the President’s property. According to reports, former Sri Lanka Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa’s attempt to flee to Dubai was thwarted by protestors on the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday. Sources said Basil Rajapaksa, brother of Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, was barred by the immigration officials and he had to return.
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Sri Lanka is currently undergoing a major economic crisis and protests have mounted forcing the leadership of the country to bow before the agitation and either flee, go into hiding or quit their posts. The Sri Lanka Immigration and Emigration Officers Association told news agency Reuters that its members declined to serve Basil Rajapaksa at the VIP departure lounge of the Colombo airport.