As a President, Gottabaya left the country

 

President Rajapaksa, who fled from Sri Lanka, went to Maldives with 15 family members in a military plane, including four brothers and his son Nikal. As per the sources, he left to Male which is the capital for Maldives. Dramatic developments took place in Sri Lanka, which is reeling from economic and political crisis. There were reports that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa tried to flee the country along with Sati. Officials also said that he is ready to flee the country by air and water. He first tried to go to Dubai by air. However, he was stopped by immigration officials at the airport. Officials said that they tried to flee to Dubai in a naval patrol vehicle by sea.

President Rajapaksa who announced the resignation on July 13^th, has put condition that he will resign once he is allowed to leave Sri Lanka. It is known that he left his official residence when protesters attacked him. After that, he decided to go to Dubai, officials said. It is believed that by leaving the country in the capacity of the President, he was careful not to be arrested or detained. However, the first couple spent a night at the military base next to the Bandaranaike International Airport after the authorities refused. Four flights to Dubai have already left. However, it is learned that some of Gotabaya's close friends in the military have negotiated to escape him by sea.

Gotabaya's younger brother, former finance minister Basil Rajapaksa also tried to leave the country on Tuesday. But people who saw him informed the authorities. This alerted the authorities and arrested him. As Basil also has Sri Lankan citizenship, he tried to escape from the VIP terminal. However, the immigration officials stopped him. Airport officials said that other passengers who noticed Basil protested against him. Meanwhile, the current Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe will be sworn in as the Interim President on Wednesday. The Speaker announced that the election of the new President will be held in the Parliament on 20th of this month as per the provisions of the Constitution. He said that the process of nominations related to this will be taken up on 19^th.