Sri Lanka: President fled Maldives by declaring a state of emergency in a socialist country

Former Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled shortly before agreeing to leave the country on a military plane bound for the Maldives on Wednesday.

Sri Lankan authorities handed over the presidency to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesingha, who agreed to resign this weekend, as a temporary solution to the power vacuum left by the last ruling member of the Rajapaksa family after he left the country.

Rajapaksa refused to resign after months of protests that swept the country in the case Wickremesinghe described in June.as a “complete collapse” of the country’s economy.

Sri Lanka Democratic Socialist Republic, Rajapaksa family – Gotabay, his brother and colleague of former President Mahinda, and is experiencing the worst economic crisis in its history as a result of the activities of more than 40 Rajapaksa circles in the ministry. positions in national government. level – participation in irresponsible happy spending, the country’s huge debt to China and the imposition of environmental policies that make the country unable to feed itself.

In a speech to Congress in June, Wickremesinghe said Sri Lanka was depleted of foreign exchange reserves and was heavily indebted, and foreign governments and companies were hesitant to sell anything to the country even if they were offered money.

Sri Lankans currently struggle to access almost all essential goods and services in a functional society: reliable access to food, medicine, oil and gas, and electricity, among other things.

Several Sri Lankan news outlets confirmed earlier Wednesday that Gotabaya Rajapaksa and her husband had fled the country and arrived in Male, Maldives on Wednesday afternoon. The Sri Lankan Air Force confirmed in a statement that they had offered to move Rajapaksa out of the country. Rajapaksa reportedly confirmed his resignation to Sri Lanka Spokesperson Yapa Abeywardene and promised an official letter would arrive before the end of the day.

The news that Rajapaksa had arrived in the Maldives, an Indian Ocean island nation near Sri Lanka, prompted local Sri Lankan expats to stage protests demanding the country’s rejection of him. According to black reports in Male, Maldivian authorities used excessive force to quell the protests and arrested at least one person in the press.

@PoliceMv trying to disperse peaceful Sri Lankan demonstrators @gotabayaR Return to SL in the capital of Male. pic.twitter.com/S26k5Alxyc

– Hassan (@Hassana_mv) 13 July 2022

A Sri Lankan citizen was arrested at a protest against the Maldivian government for granting asylum to President Gotabay Rajapaksa, who fled from Lanka on Wednesday morning.

@abdiyaan / @ahadhumv pic.twitter.com/hNUxJQDhCg

– Adhadhu (@AdhadhuMV) 13 July 2022

Sri Lanka Daily Mirror The newspaper reported on Wednesday that Gotabaya is expected to soon leave the Maldives and eventually settle in Singapore, citing unnamed “sources”.

Rajapaksa’s whereabouts before he fled the country is unknown, protesters stormed the president’s residence and joined the occupation party, which has lasted nearly a week since Saturday. Since then, dramatic footage has emerged showing the many people using the President’s luxury swimming pool, bathing in his bathroom, joining the band singing on his piano, and eating their dinner.

Roar Media/Imam Salim by Storyful

Video footage circulating on social media shows protesters bathing outside the Presidential House. pic.twitter.com/cMfoYV6VXu

– DailyMirror (@Dailymirror_SL) 9 July 2022

After confirming that Rajapaksa had left the country, Abeiwardena announced that Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe would serve as president until 20 July, when parliamentary elections will be held when lawmakers will elect a new leader. While Wickremesinghe was president, the status of the office of prime minister was unclear at press time. However, the true situation of the prime minister’s office was clear at press time – protesters breached the security system and occupied it along with the president’s home and the Temple Trees, the prime minister’s official residence. Wickremesinghe was not living in Temple Trees at the time of Saturday’s takeover; protesters set his house on fire this weekend.

An apparently enraged Wickremesinghe spoke to the country on television shortly after Rajapaksa’s departure, declaring an official state of emergency and curfew aimed at suppressing protests and preventing citizens from elsewhere in the country from flooding in Colombo and worsening unrest in the capital.

“On Monday, party leaders met to discuss the situation regarding President Gotabay Rajapaksa’s resignation. We have decided to call an election next week and ensure the safety of lawmakers,” Wickremesinghe said, according to a translation by Sri Lankan News First. “I also promised to resign as prime minister when an all-party government is formed. We decided to meet again on Friday. After that, those who wanted to be candidates started negotiations with other parties about their support.”

Wickremesinghe warned that intelligence agencies believed “some groups” had infiltrated the protests and were trying to “control the country” through mob violence.

“Groups are now protesting around the prime minister’s office. They have no reason to come here, ”said the acting director. President. “They want to prevent me from being vice president and working with the speaker to elect a new president. They want to nominate their candidates.”

The situation in downtown Colombo remained chaotic on Wednesday night. Live stream right now Daily Mirror apparently hundreds of people threatened the integrity of the police blockade near various government offices.

Daily Mirror The presidential election next week is predicted to present voters with three choices: Wickremesinghe, Rajapaksa Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) loyalist Dalles Alahapperuma and opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) chairman Sajit Premadasa. The newspaper reported that the SLPP was split between Wickremesinghe and Alahapperuma.

“Candidates who receive more than 50 percent of the valid votes will become president. If none of the applicants exceeds 50 percent, the preference votes marked by the representatives will be counted,” he said.

It is noteworthy that the surname “Rajapaksa” was not in the list of applicants. Other family members remaining in the country, especially former president Mahinda, who served as prime minister until Wickremesinghe burned down his home in May, remained silent in the face of Gotabay’s resignation during his journalism. The most active political voices on Wednesday were opposition leaders.

Maithripala Sirisena, the predecessor to Gotabay Rajapaksa, denounced Wickremesinghe on Wednesday and said the presidential election was “against the wishes of the people”.

On 13 July 2022, demonstrators protesting the government in Colombo chanted slogans and waved Sri Lankan flags at the Sri Lankan Prime Minister’s Building. (Getty Images via ARUN SANKAR/AFP)

“The general consensus among the people of the country, especially the protesters, is that the prime minister should also resign,” Sirisena said. Said. “At this time, the government must speak to those involved in this struggle that started this historic revolution, especially in Aragalai. [struggle]”.

Sirisena’s words reignited a long-standing feud with Wickremesinghe that began when Wickremesinghe was prime minister and Sirisena president. Sirisena tried to replace Wickremesinghe by force in 2018, replacing him with Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The political failure came shortly before ISIS successfully carried out one of the bloodiest terrorist attacks in world history on Easter Day 2019. Reports later revealed that Sirisena appeared to have knowledge of a jihadist attack on a predominantly Buddhist country, but took no action. To avoid this, in any way waste his energies on eliminating Wikremesinghe.