SRI LANKA President Gotabaya Rajapaksa flew to the Maldives, following months of widespread protests against an economic crisis.
The country declared a state of emergency Wednesday as thousands of people mobbed the prime minister’s office after the country’s president President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had promised at the weekend to resign on Wednesday and clear the way for a “peaceful transition of power” after fleeing his official residence in Colombo just before tens of thousands of protesters overran it.
As president, Rajapaksa enjoys immunity from arrest, and he is believed to have wanted to go abroad before stepping down to avoid the possibility of being detained.
He, his wife and two bodyguards were the four passengers on board an Antonov-32 military aircraft that took off from Sri Lanka’s main international airport, immigration sources told AFP.
Hours later, with no formal announcement he was stepping down, thousands of demonstrators mobbed the office of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe — who would automatically become acting president in the event of a resignation — demanding both officeholders should go.
