The Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka announced on Friday July 15 that he had accepted the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, two days after his flight into exile after the invasion of his residence by demonstrators, who put an end to the occupation of public buildings in the capital Colombo. “Gotabaya has legally resigned”Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana told reporters, the day after he emailed the resignation letter.
Mr. Rajapaksa fled his residence on Saturday, stormed by demonstrators accusing him of his mismanagement at a time when Sri Lanka is going through the most serious economic crisis in its history. He managed to leave his country on Wednesday to go to the Maldives, where he flew to Singapore on Thursday, from where he sent his resignation letter.
In the capital Colombo, placed under curfew, a small but jubilant crowd, some waving the national flag, danced and sang to express their joy in front of the secretariat of the presidency when the news of his resignation was announced.
“We will continue our fight”
“It’s a monumental victory”shouted Harinda Fonseka, one of the demonstrators. “But it’s only a first step”. Under the Sri Lankan Constitution, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, whose departure is also demanded by the protesters, would automatically become interim president until Parliament appoints a successor to Mr. Rajapaksa.
Witnesses saw dozens of people leaving the offices of the head of government on Thursday and the police entering them. Armored personnel carriers patrolled some neighborhoods. “We are peacefully withdrawing from the presidential palace, the presidential secretariat and the offices of the Prime Minister with immediate effect, but we will continue our fight”said a spokeswoman for the protesters earlier.
Hours before the announcement of the withdrawal, the police had repelled those who tried to enter the Parliament. The crowd had invaded the Prime Minister’s offices on Wednesday, after having done the same on Saturday with the palace of the Head of State. Nearly 85 people were injured in the clashes, and one man died of asphyxiation from tear gas. Hundreds of thousands of people have visited the presidential palace since it opened to the public after Mr Rajapaksa fled on Saturday. Thursday afternoon, the doors of the building were closed and guarded by armed men.
The army and police received new orders on Thursday to firmly suppress any violence and warned troublemakers that they were “legitimately empowered to exercise their force”. Mr. Rajapaksa joined Singapore with his wife Ioma and their two bodyguards, on board a Saudia airline aircraft.
According to local press, he had initially demanded a private jet, refusing to fly with other passengers because of the hostile reception he received when he arrived in the Maldives on Wednesday.
An eventful arrival in Male
He had been jeered at and insulted when he left the airport and a demonstration against him had been organized in the capital Malé. As president, Mr. Rajapaksa could not legally be arrested. It seems that he wanted to go abroad before resigning precisely to avoid a possible arrest.
Former Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed, who is believed to have played a behind-the-scenes role in helping him escape, said he feared he would be killed if he remained in Sri Lanka. According to diplomatic sources, the United States denied him a visa because he had renounced his American citizenship in 2019 before being a presidential candidate.
Singapore will not be its final destination, the city-state having specified that Mr. Rajapaksa was there on a private visit and that“he has (was) not to apply for asylum”. Sources close to Sri Lankan security believe he will seek to stay in Singapore for some time before moving to the United Arab Emirates. “He ruined our country with the Rajapaksa family, so we don’t trust him at all. We need a new government”exclaimed Gihan Martyn, a 49-year-old trader, who called him a ” cowardly “.