Protests erupted in Sri Lanka on Wednesday after the president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, fled to the Maldives on a military jet – but neither he nor the prime minster officially resigned, throwing the country into political chaos.

After Gotabaya’s clandestine departure, a Sri Lankan official said that the prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, had been appointed by Rajapaksa to be acting president. Wickremesinghe declared a state of emergency as protesters breached the prime minister’s offices and took over the state television broadcaster.

Protesters, who have demanded that both Rajapaksa and Wickremesinghe step down, were infuriated by the announcement that Wickremesinghe was now acting president. Thousands congregated outside the prime minister’s office, where they were hit with dozens of rounds of teargas by police as they tried to break through the gates. People could be seen running with their eyes streaming and blood coming from their heads.

“The situation is bad, they are firing, firing, firing the teargas non-stop, a lot of people have got injured,’ said Vinodh Blaze, 37, a tuk-tuk driver whose eyes were bloodshot from the gas.

“Ranil is now acting as president and the people of Sri Lanka don’t want him. If he is president, nothing changes. We demand that Gotabaya goes and Ranil goes. We want new politicians we can trust. But we can see that he is not listening to us.”

In scenes reminiscent of the weekend, when protesters took over the president’s residential palace and offices, on Wednesday the crowds managed to breach the army barriers and stormed into Wickremesinghe’s offices. As the armed forces were overrun, people poured into the corridors and waved flags from the balconies.

Wickremesinghe, who took over as a caretaker prime minister just two months ago, has been accused of propping up the Rajapaksa regime and the demand from protesters is that he resign immediately to make way for a new government.

“It’s important that the international community does not just watch and wait until this descends into violence, they need to urge Ranil Wickremesinghe to step down so someone who has the trust of the people can take over,” said Shanakiyan Rasamanickam, an MP from the Tamil National Alliance. “He is not the executive, it is illegal for him to be declaring a state of emergency.”

Protesters also took over the offices of the Rupavahini state media centre in Colombo. “Until the struggle is over, the Sri Lanka Rupavahini corporation will only telecast programmes of the Jana Aragalaya,” said a protester, referring to the people’s protest movement, before the channel went off air.

In the early hours of Wednesday morning Rajapaksa, his wife and two security guards had boarded a military aircraft to the Maldives, after he invoked executive powers to enable his escape. “Under the provisions of the constitution and on a request by the government, the Sri Lanka air force provided a plane early today to fly the president, his wife and two security officials to the Maldives,” a statement said. They arrived in Malé, the Maldives capital, at 3am.

In a speech on Wednesday afternoon, the speaker of the parliament said the president would submit his resignation by the end of the day.

Protesters, activists and lawyers have called for the president to be prosecuted, along with various Rajapaksa family members, over alleged corruption and human rights abuses. However, while he is still president, Rajapaksa enjoys immunity from arrest. It is believed he will not officially resign until he reaches his final destination of the United Arab Emirates, which has long been a haven for disgraced leaders.

There was much anger among people on the streets that the president had fled, leaving Sri Lanka in an economic mess. “I am so angry have no words,” said Sonali Udara, 27. “He has left us a country where we can’t afford to eat or look after our families. I want a better future than this.”

Rajapaksa’s escape followed a dramatic 24 hours in which he had unsuccessfully tried various means of leaving the country. He was blocked from boarding a commercial flight to Dubai on Monday night after airport staff refused to stamp his passport in the VIP area of the airport. India also refused to give permission for his plane to land on its soil.

The president’s younger brother Basil Rajapaksa, who served as finance minister, was also prevented from boarding a flight to Dubai en route to the US, where he is a dual citizen. Basil, too, was reported to have left Sri Lanka on Tuesday night.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who was elected in 2019, has been resisting calls for his resignation for months, as Sri Lanka has sunk deeper and deeper into a financial crisis for which he is widely blamed. Rajapaksa and five family members who held senior government posts stand accused of widespread corruption and economic mismanagement which left the country without any foreign currency to import food, fuel and medicines, and pushed inflation to record levels. According to the UN, the island of 22 million people is facing a humanitarian crisis.

Rajapaksa was forced at the weekend to announce his intention to step down from power this week, after the storming of his presidential palace and offices, as well as the official residence of the prime minister. Protesters have refused to leave the buildings until both Rajapaksa and Wickremesinghe have stepped down. Wickremesinghe said on Saturday he would resign once an all-party unity government had been formed.

Opposition parties said the unity government had been agreed in principle, though it was not clear who the new prime minister would be. If Rajapaksa’s resignation goes ahead as planned, parliament will reconvene on 15 July and MPs will vote on 20 July to decide the new president.

Source: The Guardian 

BDST:2127 HRS, July 13, 2022
MN