Sri Lankan president flees to Maldives, protesters storm prime minister’s office

COLOMBO, July 13 (Reuters) – Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled to the Maldives on Wednesday,bringing to an obvious finish his household’s close to two-decade dominance of the nation after a large fashionable rebellion introduced on by an financial collapse.

But his choice to depart his ally Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in cost as performing president triggered extra demonstrations, with protesters storming the premier’s office demanding that he go too.

Wickremesinghe’s office initially declared a state of emergency and a curfew with rapid impact, then cancelled them however mentioned the measures could be introduced once more later.

Police stationed exterior the prime minister’s office fired a number of rounds of tear fuel and a navy helicopter briefly circled overhead, however protesters appeared undeterred and eventually surged into the compound. Wickremesinghe’s crew declined to reveal his whereabouts.

“It feels pretty marvellous, people were trying to take this place for about three hours,” mentioned faculty pupil Sanchuka Kavinda, 25, standing subsequent to a mangled, open gate of the prime minister’s office. “No matter what, everyone in this crowd will be here until Ranil also steps down.”

In an announcement, Wickremesinghe mentioned the protesters “have no reason to storm the prime minister’s office”.

“They want to stop the parliamentary process. But we must respect the Constitution. So security forces have advised me to impose an emergency and a curfew. I’m working to do that.”

On the decrease ground of the two-storied, whitewashed colonial-era constructing, dozens of protesters gathered to sing Sinhala pop songs. In a close-by air-conditioned room, sat a big group of safety personnel armed with assault rifles.

Protest organisers and safety personnel manned a central wood staircase on the coronary heart of the constructing, guiding sightseers to and from the higher ground the place the prime minister’s room is situated.

At an adjoining room on the highest ground, the place Reuters interviewed Wickremesinghe a couple of weeks in the past, the plush furnishings had been swiftly pushed to the corners and a line of armed safety personnel ushered guests by means of.

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Parliament is predicted to title a brand new full-time president subsequent week, and a prime ruling celebration supply advised Reuters Wickremesinghe was the celebration’s first alternative, though no choice had been taken.

An try by Wickremesinghe to cling on would infuriate the protesters who say he’s a detailed ally of the Rajapaksa household, which has dominated the nation since Rajapaksa’s older brother Mahinda turned president in 2005.

“An MP with one seat is appointed as PM. Now the same person is appointed as acting President,” the opposition presidential nominee, Sajith Premadasa, mentioned on Twitter. “This is the Rajapaksa style of democracy. What a farce. What a tragedy.”

The president, his spouse and two bodyguards left the primary worldwide airport close to Colombo aboard an air pressure airplane early on Wednesday, the air pressure mentioned in an announcement.

The parliament speaker, Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, mentioned Rajapaksa had phoned him and advised him his resignation letter would arrive afterward Wednesday.

A authorities supply and an individual shut to Rajapaksa mentioned he was in Male, the capital of the Maldives. The president would more than likely proceed to one other Asian nation from there, the federal government supply mentioned.

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Protests in opposition to the financial disaster have simmered for months and got here to a head final weekend when tons of of hundreds of individuals took over key authorities buildings in Colombo, blaming the Rajapaksas and their allies for runaway inflation, shortages and corruption. learn extra

Government sources and aides mentioned the president’s brothers, former president and prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and former finance minister Basil Rajapaksa, have been nonetheless in Sri Lanka.

Wickremesinghe, whose personal residence in Colombo was set ablaze on Saturday, had supplied to resign as prime minister however didn’t repeat that supply after he turned performing president on Wednesday. If he does go, the speaker could be performing president till a brand new president is elected on July 20 as scheduled.

Amid the financial and political chaos, Sri Lanka’s sovereign bond costs hit contemporary document lows on Wednesday.

The U.S. Embassy in Colombo, which is within the central district of the town, mentioned it was cancelling consular providers for the afternoon and for Thursday as a precautionary measure.

The island nation’s tourism-dependent economic system was hammered first by the COVID-19 pandemic after which a fall in remittances from abroad Sri Lankans. A ban on chemical fertilisers hit output though the ban was later reversed. learn extra

The Rajapaksas applied populist tax cuts in 2019 that harm authorities funds, whereas shrinking international reserves curtailed imports of gasoline, meals and medicines.

Petrol has been severely rationed and lengthy strains have fashioned in entrance of outlets promoting cooking fuel. Headline inflation hit 54.6% final month and the central financial institution has warned that it might rise to 70% in coming months.

Mahinda Rajapaksa, president from 2005-2015 and later prime minister underneath his brother, resigned in May after protests in opposition to the household turned violent. He remained in hiding at a navy base within the east of the nation for some days earlier than returning to Colombo.

On Tuesday, Sri Lankan immigration officers prevented Basil Rajapaksa, who stop in April as finance minister, from flying overseas. learn extra

Additional reporting by Kanishka Singh and Alasdair Pal; Writing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Krishna N. Das; Editing by Sam Holmes, Shri Navaratnam and Kim Coghill

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