Nationwide curfew in Sri Lanka as President Gotabaya Rajapksa flees to Maldives

Colombo, July 13

Sri Lanka declared a state of emergency on Wednesday and imposed nationwide curfew till Thursday morning as angry protesters stormed the Prime Minister’s Office in Colombo, hours after President Gotabaya Rajapksa fled to the Maldives in a military jet, amid the country’s worst economic crisis in decades.

Clamour for resignations of President, PM grows | State TV channel goes off air

Rajapaksa appointed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as the acting President, the decision triggering more demonstrations with protesters storming the premier’s office demanding that he go too.

Acting Prez warns of fascist threat

• There was a “fascist threat” to democracy in Sri Lanka and “we can’t let them tear up our Constitution”, acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe told the crisis-hit nation in a televised address on Wednesday. He vowed to restore normalcy as well as stop the destruction of state property.

Military calls for political resolution

• Lanka’s military has requested the Speaker to call an all-party meeting and inform it of the steps they will take to ensure a political resolution to the conflict in the run-up to the appointment of a new President.

Rajapaksa, his wife and two bodyguards left the main international airport near Colombo aboard an air force plane early on Wednesday, the Air Force said in a statement. After arriving in the Maldives, he was expected to head next to Singapore, a government source said.

Authorities declined to reveal the whereabouts of Wickremesinghe, who declared nationwide curfew to prevent further unrest after protesters invaded his office. Police stationed outside had fired several rounds of tear gas, but the protesters were not deterred and surged into the compound.

Local media said a 26-year-old protester who was hospitalised after being tear-gassed died of breathing difficulties. In a statement, Wickremesinghe said the protesters had no reason to storm his office. “They want to stop the parliamentary process. But we must respect the Constitution,” he said.

Parliament is expected to name a new full-time President next week, and a top ruling party source said Wickremesinghe was the party’s first choice, although no decision had been taken. An attempt by Wickremesinghe to cling on would infuriate the protesters who say he is a close ally of the Rajapaksa family, which has dominated the country since Rajapaksa’s elder brother Mahinda became President in 2005.

“An MP with one seat is appointed as PM. Now the same person is appointed as acting President.... This is the Rajapaksa style of democracy. What a farce. What a tragedy,” tweeted the opposition presidential nominee, Sajith Premadasa.

Despite his flight, Rajapaksa’s own resignation was not yet confirmed by late Wednesday. Earlier, the Parliament speaker, Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, said Rajapaksa had phoned him and told him his resignation letter would arrive later on Wednesday. An aide to Abeywardena had no update on the letter late in the day. Maldives media reported that Singapore was likely to give Rajapaksa asylum. Wickremesinghe said he was alarmed by the inputs received by the intelligence services. “Despite the measures taken to elect a new President, some groups in the struggle tried to surround the Air Force Commander’s residence for providing an Air Force plane for the President to fly to the Maldives. They had also decided to surround the Navy Commander and Army Commander’s residences,” he added. Sri Lanka’s state-owned television channel Rupavahini briefly suspended its telecast on Wednesday as protesters stormed the building. Also, a second state television channel went off air, less than an hour after Rupavahini suspended its operations.

On Saturday after thousands of protesters stormed his official residence, blaming him for the unprecedented economic crisis that has brought the country to its knees, Gotabaya announced that he would step down on Wednesday. Gotabaya’s escape to the Maldives was negotiated by the Maldivian Majlis (Parliament) Speaker and former President Mohamed Nasheed, sources in the Maldives capital Male said.

The Maldivian Government’s argument is that Gotabaya is still the President of Sri Lanka, and that he hasn’t resigned or handed over his powers to a successor. Therefore, if he wanted to travel to the Maldives, it could not have been denied, sources said. The Maldives Government has not yet officially commented on his presence in the island nation. — Agencies

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