Sri Lankan Crisis: A Saudi plane carrying Sri Lanka’s beleaguered President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is believed to have arrived in Singapore from the Maldives on Thursday, amid uncertainty over its final destination, as it fled the country due to a public revolt against its government’s mishandling of the economy. went.
Rajapaksa, the 73-year-old leader who promised to resign on Wednesday, appointed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as acting president hours after fleeing the country, escalating the political crisis and sparking a new wave of protests in the island nation. The wave started. Saudi Airlines flight SV 788 carrying President Rajapaksa is believed to have landed at Singapore Changi International Airport just after 7 pm (local time).
On Saturday, Rajapaksa announced he would step down on Wednesday after thousands of protesters stormed his official residence, blaming him for the unprecedented economic crisis that brought the country to its knees. Sri Lankan Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abhayawardene said on Thursday that he has not yet received President Rajapaksa’s resignation.
Rajapaksa, who is exempt from prosecution while he was president, fled the country without resigning to avoid the possibility of arrest by the new government.
Sources in Maldivian capital Male said that the President of the Majlis (Parliament) of Maldives and former President Mohamed Nasheed held talks on Rajapaksa’s escape to the Maldives.
Sri Lanka, a country of 22 million people, is in the grip of an unprecedented economic turmoil, the worst in seven decades, leaving millions struggling to buy food, medicine, fuel and other essentials. Prime Minister Wickremesinghe said last week that Sri Lanka is now a bankrupt country.
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