SRI LANKAN PRESIDENT GOTABAYA RAJAPAKSA FAILS IN HIS ATTEMPT TO FLEE THE COUNTRY

Tue 12July 2022:

Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the president of Sri Lanka, made an unsuccessful attempt to leave the country after airport employees blocked his path and made him make a humiliating retreat.

Rajapaksa apparently tried to flee to Dubai on Monday night. He is scheduled to formally quit on Wednesday following months of protests demanding his resignation.

However, officials said immigration staff refused to let the president come to the VIP area of the airport to stamp his passport and he would not go through the ordinary queues for fear of being mobbed by the public.

Rajapaksa and his wife were forced to return to a neighboring military post as a result of missing four planes to the United Arab Emirates.

The president was not the only member of the family unsuccessfully trying to flee. His younger brother Basil Rajapaksa, who served as finance minister and has also been accused of widespread corruption, was prevented from boarding a flight to the US, via Dubai, on Tuesday morning after other passengers protested.

SRI LANKA PRESIDENT’S BROTHER TRIES TO FLEE SRI LANKA, STOPPED FROM BOARDING FLIGHT

For months, Rajapaksa resisted calls from the public to step down, but on Saturday, when tens of thousands of demonstrators thronged Colombo’s streets and occupied his presidential palace and offices, he had no alternative but to declare his resignation.

On Friday, the Sri Lankan parliament will reconvene, and on July 20, lawmakers will elect a new president. Before the nation can afford to hold legislative elections, the caretaker administration is anticipated to reign for six to eight months.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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