Here’s what we know. Rajapaksa was expected to step down on Wednesday, paving the way for new leadership. Instead, he and his wife boarded a military plane in the early hours of Wednesday and fled the commercial capital of Colombo in the Maldives. The plane had refused to land in the Maldives until former Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed — now the speaker of the Maldivian parliament — intervened, according to a senior security official. A representative for Nasheed would neither confirm nor deny the intervention. The Maldives and Sri Lanka are neighbors – the Maldivian capital Malé is just a 90-minute flight from Colombo. And Nasheed and the Rajapaksas have a history of working together. In 2012, amid anti-government protests in the Maldives, Nasheed and his wife sought political asylum in Sri Lanka, then led by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, brother of the current President. The Maldivian government has not confirmed Rajapaksa’s presence in the country, but Sri Lankans living in the Maldives took to the streets of Male on Wednesday to protest his arrival. Photos from the Maldivian capital show a crowd of people holding the Sri Lankan flag and signs reading: “Throw him out” and “Dear Maldivian friends, please urge your government not to protect criminals.” On Thursday, Rajapaksa left the Maldives for the Southeast Asian city-state of Singapore, a senior military source familiar with the matter told CNN. The President departed on a “Saudi Arabian flight,” the source said. CNN believes the source was referring to Saudia Flight 788, which departed Male at 11:30am. local time on Thursday. Saudi Arabia is the flag carrier of Saudi Arabia. The source said Rajapaksa had expected to secure a “private jet” from a close family member in Colombo but “it had not materialised”. CNN reached out to the Singaporean and Saudi Arabian foreign ministries, but has not heard back.
Is Rajapaksa still President?
The President has not formally resigned, but in a statement appointed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as acting president — even though Wickremesinghe had earlier said he would step down to make way for a new government. Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena confirmed on Thursday that he has not yet received a letter of resignation from Rajapaksa, adding that he hoped the letter would arrive that day. Rajapaksa’s resignation will only be considered official when the speaker of parliament receives a letter of resignation, according to the country’s constitution. A new President was due to be elected on July 20 after parliament resumed on July 16 — although Rajapaksa’s sudden departure and the lack of a confirmed resignation have thrown that into uncertainty. Rajapaksa’s departure is a historic moment for the island nation, which his family ruled with an iron fist for much of the past two decades before losing the loyalty of its once-adored citizens.
What’s up with the protests?
Colombo appeared calm on Thursday after several days of escalating protests, with a curfew declared from noon to 5am on Friday. Last weekend’s protests were among the most dramatic yet, with protesters torching Wickremesinghe’s private residence in an affluent neighborhood and swimming in Rajapaksa’s private swimming pool. On Wednesday, hundreds of protesters stormed the prime minister’s office compound in Colombo after clashing with armed police. Protesters also entered the premises of Sri Lankan state broadcaster Rupavahini. Photos from Wednesday show crowds of protesters piled into the prime minister’s office, waving the Sri Lankan flag and chanting. Some flooded onto the balconies and threw open the windows, raising their fists at the crowd gathered below. Police responded with tear gas and water cannons to disperse the crowds. Photos show protesters covering their faces with face masks, bandanas and plastic goggles. some raised tear gas to throw back at the police. At least 75 people were injured during the protests on Wednesday, according to the National Hospital in Colombo. Many people were brought in for inhaling tear gas, others with cuts and bruises likely from trying to jump over fences, according to a nurse at the hospital. A police officer was seriously injured during protests on Wednesday and was rushed to hospital where he was being treated, Sri Lankan police said on Thursday. An army sergeant was also injured in clashes with protesters, police added. During that incident, protesters took a T-56 rifle and two live ammunition clips, each containing 60 rounds, police said. Police were looking for the service weapon and ammunition to return to the police. As the protests escalated, Wickremesinghe’s office declared a state of emergency — later revoked — and a nighttime curfew. He also appointed a committee of senior military commanders to coordinate ground troops across Sri Lanka and to “restore law and order”.
What caused the crisis?
Sri Lanka, just off the coast of India, has been rocked by ongoing protests for months over its worst financial crisis in seven decades. medicine and fuel — leaving millions of people unable to feed their families, fuel their cars or access essential medicines. Frequent and largely peaceful protests have taken place since March, with public anger growing over food costs, power outages and the government’s handling of the crisis. The protesters demanded the resignations of both Rajapaksa and Wickremesinghe. The crisis has been years in the making, experts said, pointing to a series of government decisions compounding external shocks. Over the past decade, the Sri Lankan government has borrowed huge sums of money from foreign lenders to fund public services, said Murtaza Jafferjee, president of the Colombo-based think tank Advocata Institute. This borrowing spree coincided with a series of hits to the Sri Lankan economy, both from natural disasters such as monsoons and man-made disasters, including a government ban on chemical fertilizers that decimated farmers’ crops. Facing a huge deficit, Rajapaksa cut taxes in a doomed attempt to stimulate the economy. But the move failed, instead hitting government revenue. This prompted rating agencies to downgrade Sri Lanka to near-default levels, meaning the country lost access to overseas markets. Sri Lanka then had to fall back on its foreign exchange reserves to repay the public debt, shrinking its reserves. This affected imports of fuel and other essential items, which sent prices skyrocketing. On top of all that, the government in March floated the Sri Lankan rupee — meaning its price was determined by the supply and demand of foreign exchange markets. However, the rupee’s fall against the US dollar made things worse for ordinary Sri Lankans. CNN’s Iqbal Athas, Rukshana Rizwie and Nicola Careem contributed to this report.
