Sri Lanka Declares State of Emergency as President Rajapaksa Flees Country

Media reports have suggested that India and the US denied permission for Gotabaya Rajapaksa, hiding at an unknown military base, to enter their lands. The parliamentary speaker claimed that the president agreed to submit his resignation on 13 July (today). Thousands of protesters occupied his official residence and secretariat on Saturday.

Sri Lanka's President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country on Wednesday with his wife and two security guards, after months of demonstrations by thousands demanding he leave, culminating in the occupation of the President's House and secretariat on Saturday. The Prime Minister's office announced the state of emergency after Rajapaksa quit the country.

The beleaguered president left on an Air Force transport aircraft to the island nation of the Maldives on early Wednesday morning, said Colonel Nalin Herath, a spokesman for Sri Lanka's Defense Ministry.

The Sri Lankan Air Force claimed the move was done under the executive powers vested in the President, adding departure was completed with all legal formalities. The Prime Minister's Office also confirmed that Rajapaksa left the country.

Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana, Speaker of the Parliament, revealed that Rajapaksa left for the Maldives without submitting his resignation to him, which would make the end of his presidency official.

"We haven't received Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's resignation yet, but we hope to get it in a day," the speaker said.

On Tuesday, the Daily Mirror reported that Rajapaksa signed a resignation letter, and the Speaker would make the formal announcement on Wednesday.

The 73-year-old president, a career military officer, would be the last member of the Rajapaksa family to leave government.

In May, Mahinda Rajapaksa, the prime minister and the president's elder brother, was forced to resign after months-long protests turned violent, killing nine and injuring over 230.

To assuage protesters' anger, Gotabaya removed the Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa and several other family members from the cabinet.

Soon after the announcement of Gotabaya's leaving the island nation, the Indian High Commission in Colombo dismissed "baseless" and "speculative" media reports claiming New Delhi had facilitated Rajapaksa's exit from the country.

"The High Commission categorically denies baseless and speculative media reports that India facilitated the recent reported travel of Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Basil Rajapaksa out of Sri Lanka," the Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka said.

The Indian High Commission also reiterated that New Delhi will continue to support the people of Sri Lanka as they "seek to realize their aspirations for prosperity and progress through democratic means and values, established democratic institutions and constitutional framework".

The island is experiencing the worst economic crisis in history, triggered by government mismanagement and COVID-19-induced economic slowdown.

The island nation of 22 million people faced a severe shortage of food and fuel as the foreign exchange was exhausted to support the purchases.

As patience ran out, protesters stormed the President and Prime Minister's Houses and sought their resignation immediately.

On Saturday, the country's Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, had also agreed to step down. Still, he appeared to be staying on amid speculation that he is seeking parties' support to be appointed interim president.

The parliamentary members will vote on 20 July to elect a new president for the next two years, the remaining part of the present parliamentary tenure.

Opposition leaders Sajith Premadasa and Anura Kumara Dissanayaka are some parliamentarians who declared their candidacy. However, Rajapaksa's Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna Party still retains most of the seats in the parliament.