Gotabaya Rajapaksa resigned by email, the speaker s spokesman said hours after he landed in the city-state, after protesters overran his palace on the weekend.
Sri Lanka’s anti-government demonstrators yesterday said they were ending their occupation of official buildings, while vowing to press on with their bid to bring down the president and prime minister in the face of a dire economic crisis.
Protesters overran Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s palace at the weekend, forcing him to flee to the Maldives on Wednesday, when activists also stormed the office of Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.
Rajapaksa, 73, yesterday flew onward to Singapore from Male, but there was still no announcement of his resignation, despite his earlier promise to step down.
He is expected to look to stay
Sri Lanka's president arrived in Singapore Thursday, as protestors who chased him from his residence demanded he keep his promise to step down over his country's worst-ever economic crisis.
Singaporean authorities say Rajapaksa has been "allowed entry on a private visit" but not to seek asylum. It is thought he might travel on to the United Arab Emirates.