Sri Lanka president flees to Maldives ahead of expected resignation

Sri Lankas embattled president flew out of his country to the Maldives early Wednesday in a probable prelude to his resignation after months of widespread protests against his island nations worstever economic crisisGotabaya 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 itAs 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 detainedHe his wife and a bodyguard were among four passengers on board an Antonov32 military aircraft which took off from Sri Lankas main international airport immigration sources told AFPOn arrival in the Maldives they were driven to an undisclosed location under police escort an airport official in Male saidThe departure of the 73yearold leader once known as The Terminator had been stymied for more than 24 hours in a humiliating standoff with immigration personnel in ColomboHe had wanted to fly to Dubai on a commercial flight but staff at Bandaranaike International withdrew from VIP services and insisted that all passengers had to go through public countersThe presidential party were reluctant to go through regular channels fearing public reactions a security official said and as a result missed four flights on Monday that could have taken them to the United Arab EmiratesClearance for a military flight to land in the closest neighbour India was not immediately secured a security official said and at one point on Tuesday the group headed to a naval base with a view to fleeing by seaRajapaksas youngest brother Basil who resigned in April as finance minister missed his own Emirates flight to Dubai early Tuesday after a tense standoff of his own with airport staffBasil who holds US citizenship in addition to Sri Lankan nationality tried to use a paid concierge service for business travellers but airport and immigration staff said they had withdrawn from the fast track serviceThere were some other passengers who protested against Basil boarding their flight an airport official told AFP It was a tense situation so he hurriedly left the airport Unity government Basil had to obtain a new US passport after leaving his behind at the presidential palace when the Rajapaksas beat a hasty retreat to avoid mobs on Saturday a diplomatic source saidOfficial sources said a suitcase full of documents had also been left behind at the stately mansion along with 1785 million rupees about 50000 in cash now in the custody of a Colombo courtThere was no official word from the presidents office about his whereabouts but he remained commanderinchief of the armed forces with military resources at his disposalRajapaksa is accused of mismanaging the economy to a point where the country has run out of foreign exchange to finance even the most essential imports leading to severe hardships for the 22 million populationIf he steps down as promised Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will automatically become acting president until parliament elects an MP to serve out the presidential term which ends in November 2024But Wickremesinghe has himself announced his willingness to step down if consensus is reached on forming a unity governmentThe succession process could take between three days the minimum time taken to convene parliament and a maximum of 30 days allowed under the statute If Rajapaksa does step down on Wednesday the vote would take place on July 20 the parliamentary speaker has saidThe leader of the main opposition party Samagi Jana Balawegaya party Sajith Premadasa who lost the 2019 presidential election to Rajapaksa has said he will stand for the positionPremadasa is the son of former president Ranasinghe Premadasa who was assassinated in a Tamil rebel suicide bombing in May 1993Sri Lanka defaulted on its 51billion foreign debt in April and is in talks with the IMF for a possible bailoutThe island has nearly exhausted its already scarce supplies of petrol The government has ordered the closure of nonessential offices and schools to reduce commuting and save fuelThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever