Sri Lanka's beleaguered President and 14 family members blocked from leaving country
![Sri Lanka's beleaguered President and 14 family members blocked from leaving country Sri Lanka's beleaguered President and 14 family members blocked from leaving country](https://citizentv.obs.af-south-1.myhuaweicloud.com/49497/conversions/Gota-og_image.webp)
Sri Lanka's President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is due to formally leave office on Wednesday, after being forced to resign in the wake of months-long protests over the nation's crippling economic crisis.
Sri
Lanka's President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was blocked from departing Sri Lanka on
Monday after refusing to join a public queue at the Bandaranaike International
Airport in order to have his passport checked by immigration, a high-ranking
military source told CNN.
Aides
for Rajapaksa arrived at the airport in Colombo on Monday with 15 passports
belonging to the president and members of his family -- including First Lady
Ioma Rajapaksa -- who had booked seats on a Sri Lankan Airlines flight leaving
for Dubai at 6:25 p.m. local time, according to the military source.
Immigration
officers declined to process the passports given to them by presidential aides,
as Rajapaksa and his family were not physically present for cross checks and,
eventually, the flight departed without the president and his family on board,
the source added.
Another
attempt was made to get the family on an Etihad flight scheduled to leave
Colombo for Abu Dhabi at 9:20 p.m. local, according to the source, however the
same problem occurred, as the Rajapaksas refused to queue for the flight and
show up in person at immigration for passport checks.
In
both instances, the Rajapaksa family was in a nearby airport lounge, waiting
for confirmation they could board without queuing among members of the public,
the source said.
Rajapaksa
is due to formally leave office on Wednesday, after being forced to resign in
the wake of months-long protests over the nation's crippling economic crisis.
He
agreed to step down on Saturday after more than 100,000 people massed outside
Rajapaksa's residence and called for his resignation. Some of the protesters
then broke into the property and splashed
around in his swimming pool.
Striking
images shared on social media showed demonstrators singing protest songs and
chanting slogans calling for Rajapaksa to resign. Other photos showed groups of
demonstrators setting up barbecue pits to grill and cook food.
Rajapaksa's
current whereabouts within Sri Lanka are unknown. On Tuesday, the Sri Lanka Air
Force (SLAF) denied that he is currently staying in a private residence
belonging to Air Force Chief Air Marshal Sudarshana Pathirana, according to a
SLAF statement.
The
SLAF issued the denial after a video released by a former police officer
claimed that the President was staying in a private house belonging to the Air
Force Commander. The SLAF said that there is no truth behind the report and
described it as propaganda intended to tarnish the image of the SLAF and its
chief.
The
drastic escalation of unrest could spell the end of the Rajapaksa family's
political dynasty, which has ruled Sri Lanka for most of the past two decades.
His
inability to leave Sri Lanka has cast doubts over the timeline for him leaving
office though, as his planned resignation would leave Rajapaksa without
presidential immunity -- potentially exposing him to a raft of legal charges
and reduced security.
Rajapaksa
stands accused of high-level corruption and economic mismanagement, which ultimately
bankrupted the country and triggered its worst financial crisis
since independence.
Want to send us a story? SMS to 25170 or WhatsApp 0743570000 or Submit on Citizen Digital or email wananchi@royalmedia.co.ke
Comments
No comments yet.
Leave a Comment