He earlier arrived at Changi Airport, putting to rest speculation on where the embattled politician would head to after he fled to the Maldives from Sri Lanka on a military plane Wednesday.
Protesters storm PM office COLOMBO/MALE, July 13: Sri Lanka declared a state of emergency today as angry protesters stormed the Prime Minister’s office in Colombo, hours after President Gotabaya Rajapksa fled to the Maldives on a military jet, amid the country’s worst economic crisis in decades. Rajapaksa, the 73-year-old leader who had promised to resign today, appointed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as the acting President hours after he fled the country, escalating the political crisis and triggering a fresh wave […]
Colombo, July 13 (PTI): Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Wednesday fled to the Maldives from where he appointed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as the acting President, escalating political crisis and triggering a fresh wave of protests in the country reeling under the worst financial crisis in decades. Rajapaksa, the 73-year-old leader who had promised to resign on Wednesday, appointed Prime Minister Wickremesinghe as the acting President, citing Article 37(1) of the Constitution that allows a premier to “discharge the powers, duties and functions of the office of president” when the president is ill or “absent” from the country. Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena announced that President Rajapaksa has appointed Wickremesinghe to act to perform his functions while he is abroad. Abeywardena also said that President Rajapaksa has informed him over telephone that he will resign today as promised. He said the vote for the new president will t
Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled to the Maldives on Wednesday amid a popular uprising brought on by an economic collapse, bringing to an apparent end his family's near two-decade dominance of the country.