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At dawn on Wednesday, a plane carrying Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa landed in the Maldives, after a failed attempt to leave, and protesters continue to occupy the presidential palace, awaiting the announcement of the president’s resignation.
An official at Male Airport (the capital of the Maldives) told AFP that an Antonov-32 military plane landed at the airport from Colombo, with 4 people on board, including the 73-year-old president, his wife and a bodyguard.
He added that as soon as they got off the plane, they were escorted by the police to an unknown destination at once.
Earlier, the Associated Press quoted an official of the Sri Lanka Immigration Department that Rajapaksa fled the country with his wife and two bodyguards on a Sri Lankan Air Force plane, heading to Male.
Yesterday, Agence France-Presse quoted official sources as saying that immigration officials at the airport prevented Rajapaksa from leaving after a “humiliating confrontation”.
Last Saturday, Rajapaksa fled the presidential palace in Colombo with security guards from the navy, shortly before thousands of protesters stormed the presidential compound.
Rajapaksa then took refuge in a naval facility, according to a senior defense official, before being transferred to Katunayake base, which shares a common fence with Bandarnaike International Airport.
President Rajapaksa had promised to announce his resignation on Wednesday, and the Prime Minister had also expressed his readiness to resign, without specifying a date for that.
In this context, Reuters reported that the main opposition party announced the candidacy of its leader, Sagit Premadasa, for the presidency of the country.
Tens of thousands of Sri Lankans continue to flock to the presidential palace three days after it was stormed, and the demonstrators threaten to call a general strike by next Thursday if the president and prime minister do not resign.
