Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has declared a state of emergency in his role as caretaker president, after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled to the Maldives on Wednesday, sparking further protests amid the economic crisis.
Wickremesinghe’s media secretary, Dinouk Colombez, said: “The prime minister, as acting president, has declared a (country-wide) state of emergency and imposed a curfew in the Western Province.” Reuters,
Curfew has come into force with immediate effect.
As news of the President’s flight spread, thousands gathered at the main protest site in Colombo, chanting the slogan “Gota Chor, Gota Chor”, addressing him by a nickname.
Hundreds of others stormed the Prime Minister’s Office demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.
The presidential flight marked an end to the rule of the powerful Rajapaksa clan, which has dominated politics in the South Asian country for the past two decades.
Protests against the economic crisis have been going on for months and came to the fore last weekend when hundreds of thousands of people stormed major government buildings in Colombo, blaming Rajapaksa and his allies for runaway inflation, corruption and severe shortages of fuel and medicines. Convicted.
Government sources and aides said the president’s brother, former prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and former finance minister Basil Rajapaksa, are still in Sri Lanka.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa, his wife and two bodyguards left the main international airport near Colombo on board a Sri Lankan Air Force aircraft early Wednesday, the Air Force said in a statement.
A government source and close aide of Rajapaksa said he was in Male, the capital of Maldives. A government source said the President is likely to travel to another Asian country from there.
Rajapaksa was to resign from the presidency on Wednesday to form a unity government after protesters stormed the official residences of him and the prime minister.
In pictures: rioters ransacked the residence of sri lankan president
Mahinda Yapa Abhayawardene, Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka Reuters mate years He had not yet received any communication from Rajapaksa. A ruling party source said the president would send a letter of resignation later on Wednesday.
This would make Wickremesinghe acting president, although he has also offered to resign. If he does so, according to the constitution, the president will be acting president until a new president is elected.
However, protesting leaders say the prime minister is affiliated with Rajapaksa and has warned of a “decisive battle” if he does not resign by Wednesday afternoon.
Buddhi Prabodh Karunaratne, one of the organizers of the recent protests, said, “If we do not hear about the resignation of the President and the Prime Minister by evening, we may have to gather back at Parliament or any other government building. “
We are strictly against the Gota-Ranil government. Both have to go.”
Amid economic and political turmoil, Sri Lankan sovereign bond prices hit new record highs on Wednesday.
The US embassy in Colombo, which is in the city’s Central District, said it was canceling consular services for the afternoon and Thursday as a precaution.
victim of epidemic
The island nation’s tourism-dependent economy was hit first by the Covid-19 pandemic and then suffered a decline in remittances from overseas Sri Lankans. The ban on chemical fertilizers affected production, although the ban was later lifted.
Rajapaksa implemented populist tax cuts in 2019, slashing government finances while imports of fuel, food and medicines slashed as foreign reserves shrank.
There has been heavy rationing of petrol and long lines have formed in front of shops selling LPG. Headline inflation hit 54.6 per cent last month and the central bank has warned it could rise to 70 per cent in the coming months.
Editorial: Sri Lanka bankruptcy
President’s elder brother Mahinda Rajapakse, [2][resigned] As prime minister in May after protests against the family turned violent.
He hid at a military base in the east of the country for a few days before returning to Colombo.
In May, the Rajapaksa government appointed the speaker of the Maldivian parliament and a former president, Mohamed Nasheed, to help coordinate foreign aid to beleaguered Sri Lanka.
In the same month, Nasheed publicly denied allegations that he was helping Mahinda Rajapaksa build a safe haven in the Maldives.
Media reports in the Maldives said that the Sri Lankan President had arrived in the country early on Wednesday, although Reuters Could not independently confirm this.
Maldivian government spokesperson did not respond Reuters‘Request for comment.
Sri Lankan immigration officials on Tuesday [4][prevented] Tulsi Rajapaksa from flying out of the country.
It was unclear where Basil Rajapaksa, who holds US citizenship, was trying to go. He resigned as finance minister in early April amid heavy street protests and gave up his seat in parliament in June.