Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa flew to Maldives in the wee hours of Wednesday hours ahead of his official resignation following months of protests demanding his removal from the role of the president.
The Sri Lankan air force on Wednesday confirmed that the defense ministry granted safe passage to the Rajapaksa family for immigration, customs and other laws to Maldives. The aircraft was provided to them on Wednesday early morning.
@MohamedNasheed has pressured Maldives President Solih to grant clearance for President Gotabaya Rajapaksa who is on the run to land in Maldives. @GotabayaR to stay in a resort, and then head to UAE.High security at the Velana International Airport. #LKA #SriLanka #GoHomeGota— Munza Mushtaq (@munza14) July 12, 2022
Since Rajapaksa is president he enjoys immunity from arrest and still remains commander-in-chief of the Sri Lankan military. The powers are vested to him in accordance with the Sri Lankan constitution.
The Maldivian air-traffic controllers were not eager to let them land but former Maldivian president Mohamed Nasheed intervened to help the embattled Sri Lankan president.
Parliament speaker and Former President @MohamedNasheed have been spotted arriving by car at Velana International Airport to receive the Gotabaya Rajapaksa. pic.twitter.com/5vVotVH99f— MALDIVES VOICE.MV (@voicemv_eng) July 13, 2022
Sri Lankan anti-government protesters as well as many sections of the public view the Rajapaksa dynasty as the reason behind Sri Lanka’s worst-ever economic crisis.
Rajapaksa expressed his desire to flee Sri Lanka early Tuesday. An attempt by his younger brother Basil Rajapaksa was foiled by the airport staff at the Colombo International Airport after they denied stamping the passport of Basil.
The embattled president’s aides arrived at the airport with at least 15 passports belonging to Rajapaksa’s family. This also included First Lady Ioma Rajapaksa. All of them booked seats on a Sri Lankan Airlines flight leaving for Dubai on Tuesday evening.
The flight departed without them as the Rajapaksas did not want to be present for cross checks. The immigration officers also denied stamping the passports due to them not being present.
Another attempt was made later that evening to help the Rajapaksa’s board a flight scheduled to leave Colombo for Abu Dhabi at 9:20pm (local time). However, the Rajapaksas were unable to board the plane as they were unready to stand in the public immigration queue for the flight.
They were waiting at a nearby airport lounge awaiting confirmation if they could board the plane without queuing among members of the public. The Rajapaksa family missed four flights which were scheduled to leave Sri Lanka due to the standoff with the immigration officers and airport authorities.
Later in the wee hours of Wednesday, Rajapaksa and his wife flew to Maldives capital Male on an Sri Lankan Air Force’s AN32 troop transport plane.
The local air traffic refused to allow the plane to land but Maldives’ Majlis speaker and former president Mohamed Nasheed intervened to allow the Rajapaksas to land.
It is likely that Rajapaksa will board a flight to another location from Male.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa has been caught in the eye of the storm since last Saturday as anti-government protesters as well as the outraged Sri Lankan public – due to lack of food, medicines and fuel – want to grab ahold of him and hold him accountable for the conditions they find themselves in.
Protesters occupied the presidential residence on Saturday and the Rajapaksas managed to escape in the nick of time or else their safety would have been compromised due to anger among the public.
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