Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was transferred Monday to an air base near the international airport, officials said, fueling the hypothesis of a flight abroad.
After fleeing the presidential palace besieged by protesters on Saturday, Mr. Rajapaksa found refuge in navy facilities before being taken to Katunayake Air Force Base, which is on the same perimeter as the country’s main airport. Bandaranaike, a senior defense official told AFP.
The office of the presidency did not communicate Monday on the situation of the head of state, but several local media advanced that he would prepare to leave for Dubai.
Four commercial flights to the Middle East, however, took off without him, airport officials said. Immigration officials refused to go to the VIP suite to stamp his passport, while Mr Rajapaksa refused to go through public areas, they added, a humiliating situation.
According to a military source, he is still the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and still has the possibility of traveling on an air force plane.
The 73-year-old leader escaped through a backdoor of his palace on Saturday. Protesters, who have occupied the building since Saturday, discovered 17.85 million rupees (C$64,000) in new banknotes and handed them over to the police.
According to official sources, a suitcase filled with documents was also found in the residence.
Mr. Rajapaksa had settled in this building after being driven out of his private residence on March 31 by demonstrators trying to storm it.
The president announced that he would step down on Wednesday to allow for a “peaceful transition”. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, 73, should then automatically become interim president, but he has made it known that he wishes to step down due to lack of consensus to form a unity government.
The process for the succession must last between three days, the minimum time to convene the Parliament, and 30 days, the maximum authorized by the texts.
Talks
The main opposition party, Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), was in talks on Monday with smaller political parties to win support for their leader, Sajith Premadasa, who lost the elections in 2019.
Five ministers resigned over the weekend, and the Prime Minister’s Office said the government had agreed on Monday to resign en bloc if a “multi-party government” is agreed.
On Monday, a huge queue was forming to visit the presidential palace, where there were still thousands of protesters who announced they would not leave the premises until the president’s confirmed resignation.
Mr. Rajapaksa is accused of plunging the country into an unprecedented economic crisis, ruining it and leaving it without foreign currency to finance essential imports for its population of 22 million.