Mon 26 December 2022:
Former Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, ousted in July following mass protests, departed from the Sri Lankan Bandaranaike International Airport to the United States together with his family, the Daily Mirror newspaper reported on Monday,
The ex-top official left the country with his spouse Ioma, daughter-in-law Sewandi, his son Manoj and his grandchild, the report said.
In September, Rajapaksa returned to Sri Lanka after fleeing the country in July, when thousand-strong protests, caused by public discontent over the government’s inefficiency in addressing the economic crisis, rocked Colombo, Sri Lanka’s commercial capital. On July 20, the parliament elected Ranil Wickremesinghe as the new president.
Sri Lanka has been suffering from the worst economic crisis in its history since gaining independence in 1948. The dire economic situation was caused by shortages of foreign currency as tourist flows dried up during the COVID-19 pandemic, preventing the country from purchasing enough fuel.
The crisis triggered a sharp rise in energy prices and the subsequent shortage of food and basic necessities, as well as constant power outages.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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