Sri Lanka plunged into chaos and its president fled to Singapore, before emailing his resignation, as questions swirl about the country’s future.
According to CNN, embattled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa arrived in Singapore on a flight from Maldives on Thursday, according to a high-ranking security source in Colombo. He had been in Maldives for just over 24 hours after fleeing Sri Lanka’s commercial capital on Wednesday – the same day he was meant to resign after he pledged to step down following huge protests against his rule at the weekend.
Singapore confirmed that Rajapaksa had landed and been allowed to enter the country on a “private visit” but had not asked for or been granted asylum.
Rajapaksa had been in Maldives for one day after fleeing Sri Lanka in the early hours of Wednesday – the same day he had said he would resign.
But the absence of a formal resignation letter raised questions about the intentions of an apparently self-exiled leader who appointed the prime minister as acting president after leaving his island nation.
Shortly after Rajapaksa left the country, protesters stormed Acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s office to demand his removal. Wickremesinghe responded by calling a nationwide curfew overnight.
Rajapaksa pledged to quit over the weekend after angry demonstrators broke into his official residence, swam in his pool and demanded the end of his family’s ruling dynasty.
Rajapaksa then tendered his resignation in a letter sent by email to parliamentary speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardenena, according to the speaker’s office, though the office also cautioned “we cannot accept such an email at face value.”
Sri Lanka will kick off the process to elect its next President on Saturday after Gotabaya Rajapaksa sent in his resignation from Singapore, while Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court barred two of his brothers—former PM Mahinda and former Finance Minister Basil—from leaving the country till July 28.
There are five contenders in the fray and they will have to win the support of both lawmakers and protesters on the streets to achieve a modicum of stability.
Leading the race is PM Ranil Wickremesinghe, who had promised to quit, but is now the interim President who has imposed a state of emergency across Sri Lanka soon after protesters occupied his office and briefly took control of the national state broadcaster.
