Highlight
- Maldivian Majlis (Parliament) President Mohamed Nasheed announced that Rajapaksa has resigned as the President of Lanka
- The President had earlier reached Singapore with his wife
- Rajapaksa announced on Saturday that he would step down after thousands of protesters stormed his home
Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa emailed his resignation to the speaker, state media said on Thursday. In an unusual move, Mohamed Nasheed, the Speaker of the Majlis (Parliament) of Maldives, announced Rajapaksa’s resignation.
“Sri Lankan President GR has resigned. I hope Sri Lanka can move on now. I believe the President would not have resigned if he was still in Sri Lanka, and fearing to lose his life I appreciate the thoughtful work of the Government of Maldives. My best wishes to the people of Sri Lanka.’ Sources quoted by news agency PTI said that former President Nasheed had negotiated Rajapaksa’s escape to Maldives.
The President had earlier reached Singapore with his wife. Singapore said it has allowed Rajapaksa to enter the city-state from the Maldives on a “private visit” and seek refuge from him, fleeing the country after facing a public revolt against the mishandling of the economy by his government. No request was made.
The 73-year-old president fled to the Maldives along with his wife and two security officials on a military jet early on Wednesday to protest a public revolt against his government for its mishandling of the country’s economy.
Rajapaksa, who promised to resign on Wednesday, appointed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as acting president, hours after he fled to the Maldives, fueling a political crisis and sparking a new wave of protests in the island nation. Went.
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. 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.
Prime Minister Wickremesinghe, who is now the acting President, on Wednesday informed the Speaker to nominate a prime minister acceptable to both the government and the opposition.
President Rajapaksa’s brothers – former prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and former finance minister Basil Rajapaksa – gave an affidavit to the Supreme Court through their lawyers on Thursday that they will not leave the country until the fundamental rights petition filed against them is heard on Friday. Would have happened Daily Mirror reports.
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.
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