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Sri Lanka declares state of emergency after president flees to Maldives
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had promised at the weekend to resign on Wednesday and clear the way for a "peaceful transition of power" after fleeing his official residence in Colombo just before tens of thousands of protesters overran it.
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Sri Lanka's President Gotabaya Rajapaksa (center) addresses the nation along with Navy Chief Nishantha Ulugetenne (second left) and Airforce Chief Sudarshana Pathirana (right) during the Sri Lanka's 74th Independence Day celebrations in Colombo on February 4, 2022.
(AFP/Ishara S. KODIKARA )
S
ri Lanka declared a state of emergency Wednesday as thousands of people mobbed the prime minister's office after the country's president flew to the Maldives, following months of widespread protests against an economic crisis.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had promised at the weekend to resign on Wednesday and clear the way for a "peaceful transition of power" after fleeing his official residence in Colombo just before tens of thousands of protesters overran it.
As president, Rajapaksa enjoys immunity from arrest, and he is believed to have wanted to go abroad before stepping down to avoid the possibility of being detained.
He, his wife and two bodyguards were the four passengers on board an Antonov-32 military aircraft that took off from Sri Lanka's main international airport, immigration sources told AFP.
Hours later, with no formal announcement he was stepping down, thousands of demonstrators mobbed the office of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe -- who would automatically become acting president in the event of a resignation -- demanding both officeholders should go.
"Go home Ranil, Go home Gota," they shouted.
Police fired tear gas to hold them back from overrunning the compound and officials declared a nationwide state of emergency "to deal with the situation in the country", the prime minister's spokesman Dinouk Colombage told AFP.
