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Sri Lanka crisis: Gotabaya Rajapaksa leaves Maldives for Singapore
Rajapaksa had arrived in Maldives on Wednesday morning amid protests in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa has left Maldives for Singapore, the Associated Press reported.
Rajapaksa had left Sri Lanka on Wednesday morning with his wife and two bodyguards. He was welcomed at the airport by speaker Mohamed Nasheed. Rajapaksa fled the country on the day he was supposed to hand over his resignation.
His decision to step down came after the protesters stormed his presidential palace on Saturday, demanding he and prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe step down.
SRI LANKA CRISIS LIVE COVERAGE
However, the protesters have said they will vacate the government buildings seized by them during the protests.
"We are peacefully withdrawing from the Presidential Palace, the Presidential Secretariat and the Prime Minister's Office with immediate effect, but will continue our struggle," a spokesperson said.
Sri Lankan premier Ranil Wickremesinghe, who is now the acting president, directed the military to use force to quell the protests. However, the Sri Lankan army has declined the instructions.
With the resignation deadline already missed, the Sri Lankan speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena said Rajapaksa should submit his resignation or he would be forced to consider other options to remove him, PTI had reported.
He said that since an acting President has been appointed, the Office of the Speaker is exploring the legal provisions to consider the option of "have vacated his post" if the President does not tender in his letter of resignation, the report by News First Lanka added.
