Gotabaya Rajapaksa is accused of mismanaging the economy, leading to the country’s inability to finance the most essential imports.
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He had probably imagined another end of term. Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, booed by a strong popular movement, landed on Wednesday July 13 in the Maldives after leaving his country aboard a military plane.
The 73-year-old leader, who had unsuccessfully attempted to leave the country on Tuesday, took off early Wednesday from Colombo International Airport with his wife and a bodyguard on board. Having not yet resigned, which he promised to do on Wednesday for a “peaceful transition of power”Gotabaya Rajapaksa still enjoys presidential immunity.
The head of state and his wife had spent the night from Monday to Tuesday at a military base near the international airport after missing four flights that could have taken them to the United Arab Emirates. In his flight from the palace, the Sri Lankan president left behind a suitcase full of documents and 17.85 million rupees (49,000 euros) in cash, now under seal.
If the head of state resigns as promised, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will automatically be appointed interim president until parliament elects a deputy who will hold office until the end of the current term, c i.e. November 2024.
Ranil Wickremesinghe is however also challenged by the demonstrators who have been camping in front of the Presidential Secretariat for more than three months to demand the resignation of the president due to the unprecedented economic crisis that the country is going through.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa is accused of having mismanaged the economy, leading to the inability of the country, in lack of foreign exchange, to finance the most essential imports for a population of 22 million inhabitants.