Sri Lanka is experiencing hyperinflation and a major economic crisis with severe shortages of basic supplies such as food and fuel. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country on Wednesday (July 13) with her family on a military plane and has now entered the Maldives.
Tens of thousands of demonstrators had previously occupied the presidential residence, and Rajapaksa, after escaping from the residence, promised to resign over the weekend, paving the way for a "peaceful transition of power." The Prime Minister's Office confirmed the matter on Monday (7/11).
Agence France-Presse reported that as president, Rajapaksa enjoys arrest immunity. It is believed that he wanted to flee the country before stepping down to avoid the possibility of arrest.
Rajapaksa, his wife and a bodyguard took off from Sri Lanka's main international airport to neighbouring Maldives on a Military Transport Plane in an Antonov-32 military transport plane, according to immigration sources.
An immigration official involved in Rajapaksa's journey abroad told AFP that "their passports were stamped and boarded on special air force flights." ”
CNN reported that the Maldives capital airport once refused to allow Rajapaksa's plane to land, and it was Maldivian Congress Speaker Majilis and former Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed who intervened to allow Rajapaksa and his party to enter. It was reported that they had been taken to a secret location in the Maldives.
Rajapaksa, 73, once known as the "Terminator," was humiliated to leave the country and twice attempted to fly a civil aviation plane, but was stopped by airport immigration officials for more than 24 hours.
CNN reported that Rajapaksa originally wanted to take SriLankan Airlines to Dubai on Monday (11th), but did not want to queue with other people at the entry and exit gates, sent assistants to carry a group of 15 people's passports to go through customs clearance, Rajapaksa and others hid in the airport lounge to wait, only to be rejected by bandaranaike International Airport staff. Airport officials insisted that all passengers be checked in person, and they did not board the flight at 6:20 p.m. that day.
Later, Rajapaksa tried to take the Etihad Airways flight to Abu Dhabi at 9:20, but still did not dare to queue up in person to go through the customs clearance procedures, only to be rejected again and miss the flight.
Agence France-Presse (AFP) alleged that Rajapaksa and his party missed a total of four flights to the United Arab Emirates, and security officials pointed out that Rajapaksa also attempted to fly a military plane to India without permission, and that the group also traveled to a naval base at a certain point on Tuesday (7/12) in an attempt to escape by sea.
The next day (12th), a former police officer uploaded a video on the Internet claiming that Rajapaksa was temporarily living in the private residence of the commander of the Sri Lankan Air Force, but the military denied it, saying that it was a smear. But in the end, Rajapaksa arrived in the Maldives by military plane.