Sri Lanka: President Rajapaksa flees resignation

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled to the Maldives on Wednesday following protests over the ongoing economic crisis. Rajapaksa, his wife and two bodyguards left the country aboard an Air Force plane, an immigration official told Reuters. According to the law, the authorities could not prevent an incumbent president from leaving the country. The President first flew to Male, the capital of the Maldives. According to government circles, he will most likely continue to another Asian country. Rajapaksa previously announced that he would step down on Wednesday. Protests in Sri Lanka have been smoldering since May and culminated in the storming of Rajapaksa’s official residence in the capital Colombo on Saturday. The country is in the worst economic crisis since independence in 1948.