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Sri Lanka crisis: Fleeing President Gotabaya Rajapaksa stopped at airport, may rely on Navy aid, says report
Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled his official residence on Saturday, but his whereabouts remain unknown. He is supposed to step down on Wednesday (July 13).
Embattled Sri Lanka president Gotabaya Rajapaksa is considering using a naval vessel to flee the island nation, news agency AFP said Tuesday citing official sources. Rajapaksa, 73, had promised to resign and assured a “peaceful transition of power” following widespread protests over the country's worst economic crisis in living memory.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled his official residence in Colombo after tens of thousands stormed the colonial-era building, overran armed troops and made themselves at home. Visuals of protesters swimming in the pool, rummaging through the kitchen and playing in the bedrooms went viral, as did reports of the same protesters cleaning their own mess.
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The president had planned to escape to Dubai, the sources said, but that plan is on hold after immigration officers refused to go to the VIP suite to stamp his passport. Rajapaksha insisted he would not go through public facilities, fearing retaliation from other airport users.
As protests grow fiercer and the Sri Lankan people's anger becomes more pronounced, Gotabaya Rajapaksa's closest military aides are discussing the possibility of taking him and his entourage aboard a naval patrol craft, AFP said, citing a top defence source.
He could go to the Maldives or India and get a flight to Dubai, the source added.
An alternate plan could see the president charter a plane from the airport at Mattala - which was opened in 2013 and named after his elder brother Mahinda.
The country's air force, meanwhile, has rejected reports Gotabaya Rajapaksa is in a private home belonging Air Marshal Sudarshana Pathirana. The Sri Lanka Air Force called these reports “propaganda” to tarnish its image, according to news agency PTI.
On Saturday, when his Colombo home was overrun, the president was reportedly evacuated by naval perssonel. Video - that Hindustan Times could not independently confirm - also emerged of what was claimed as Rajapaksa's luggage being stored on a navy vessel.
The Sri Lankan Navy had also stepped-in in May, when then prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, the president's brother, fled his home and took refuge at a naval base.
The president does have immunity from arrest but reportedly wishes to go overseas before stepping down to avoid any possibility of being detained after his resignation.
A similar problem confronted the president's brother Basil Rajapaksa, after the former finance minister also tried to flee to Dubai but was held up. He was trying to leave from the international terminal when people recognised him and objected to his departure.
Sri Lanka lawmakers are struggling to pick a new president - they are expected to do so next week. Apart from Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will also step down, once a new government is in place. Negotiations over that have stymied opposition leaders - and protesters intend to occupy official buildings till their top leaders are gone
The new Sri Lanka president is expected to be named on July 20.
Sri Lanka is facing an economic crisis amplified by the pandemic. The country has almost exhausted already-scanty supplies of fuel, food and other essentials, which in itself were given by India on credit. The government has ordered non-essential offices and schools to close to save fuel and electricity. Sri Lanka defaulted on its $51-billion foreign debt in April and is in talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a possible bailout.
