Sri Lankan president takes an air force plane to Maldives

Reuters were informed by two sources that Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa left the country early on Wednesday, hours before he was scheduled to resign because of the widespread protest over his handling of a devastating economic crisis.

An immigration employee told Reuters that Rajapaksa, his wife, and two bodyguards left in a Sri Lankan Air Force aircraft.

He reportedly left for Male, the Maldives‍‍` main city, according to a government source. From there, the president would probably travel to another Asian nation, the insider claimed.

According to the immigration official, authorities could not stop a president for leaving the country.

After thousands of protestors stormed in the prime minister‍‍`s and Rajapaksa‍‍`s official houses on Saturday, they were expected to leave their official residences on Saturday demanding their ouster.

Since Friday, the president has not been spotted in public. On July 20, the Parliament will choose his replacement.

Most Sri Lankans hold the Rajapaksa family accountable for current issues since they have long dominated politics in the 22 million-person nation, including former prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The COVID-19 pandemic, has hampered the tourism-dependent economy badly and a restriction on chemical fertilizers all had a negative impact too. Later, the ban was lifted.

The Rajapaksas implemented populist tax cuts in 2019, which had an impact on government finances and limited imports of fuel, food, and medication due to falling foreign reserves.

Since May, there have been protests against the Sri Lankan government; nevertheless, on Saturday, hundreds of thousands of people stormed Colombo and seized control of significant government structures and apartments.

Another of the president‍‍`s brothers, former finance minister Basil Rajapaksa, was denied entry on Tuesday by immigration officers.

It was unclear where Basil Rajapaksa, who is also a citizen of the United States, was attempting to go. Early in April, amid widespread street demonstrations against food and fuel shortages, he resigned as finance minister. In June, he left his position as a member of parliament.