Sri Lanka declares state of emergency after President Rajapaksa flees

Sri Lanka’s embattled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled to the Maldives on a military jet on Wednesday, hours before he was supposed to quit in the face of a public revolt against his government for mishandling the economy that has bankrupted the country.

From the Maldives, 73-year-old Rajapaksa appointed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as the acting President, citing Article 37(1) of the Constitution that allows a premier to “discharge the powers, duties and functions of the office of president” when the president is ill or “absent” from the country.

Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena announced that President Rajapaksa has appointed Prime Minister Wickremesinghe to act to perform his functions while he is abroad. Abeywardena also said that President Rajapaksa has informed him over telephone that he will resign today as promised. He said the vote for the new president will take place on July 20.

Wickremesinghe, who is now acting President, has declared a state of emergency in the country and a curfew in the Western province has been imposed as protesters gathered near his office at Flower Road in Colombo. “I am now imposing a State of Emergency and a Curfew,” he said in a special televised statement adding that threats by fascists must be countered.

Wickremesinghe said he instructed the security forces to enforce the emergency and curfew to bring the situation to normalcy, adding that a committee comprising the heads of armed forces have been given the responsibility in doing so with zero political intervention.

He also pledged that he would step down as Prime Minister when an all-party government is formed.

Restoring order

He ordered the security forces to arrest people acting in a riotous manner. “I have ordered military commanders and the police chief to do what is necessary to restore order,” Wickremesinghe said.

Meanwhile, the protesters who had arrived in large numbers at the PM Office have surrounded the building. Sri Lanka’s state-owned television channel Rupavahini briefly suspended its telecast on Wednesday as protesters stormed the building. Later, the channel resumed its transmission. Also, a second Sri Lankan state television channel went off air, less than an hour after Rupavahini suspended its operations.

“On government request and in terms of powers available to a President under the Constitution, with complete approval from the ministry of defence, the President, his wife and two security officials were provided a Sri Lanka Air Force plane to depart from the Katunayake international airport for the Maldives,” the statement said. Rajapaksa, who enjoys immunity from prosecution while he is president, fled the country before resigning to avoid the possibility of arrest by the new government.

A 26-year-old protestor who was hospitalised after being tear-gassed outside the PM's Office in Flower Road today has died after developing breathing difficulties. 

Lanka IOC

Lanka IOC, the unit of India’s biggest oil firm, has asked all its 216 petrol pumps in Sri Lanka to maintain a separate fuel stockpile for supply to ambulances in the crisis-hit island nation. The company, which is a subsidiary of state-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), is operating all its petrol pumps normally and is provisioning to meet the increased rush, Lanka IOC MD Manoj Gupta said. 

Meanwhile, Union aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia today applauded Trivandrum and Kochi airport for going out of their way to help the crisis-hit nation. “The airports have gone beyond their call of duty by allowing technical landing to 120+ aircraft bound for Sri Lanka,” Scindia said in a tweet.

How Sri Lankan protests unfolded

A deep financial crisis has left Sri Lanka struggling to pay for imports of food, medicine and fuel and brought thousands of protesters on to the streets. On Wednesday, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country, hours before he had been due to step down after widespread protests. Here are some of the key developments in the crisis:

March 31, 2022: Demonstrators march to Rajapaksa’s private residence to protest over worsening economic conditions

April 3: President dissolves the cabinet, which includes his younger brother Basil Rajapaksa as FM, but elder brother Mahin­da Rajapaksa continues as PM

April 9: Protests escalate, with sit-in demonstrations outside Rajapaksa’s office aimed at removing the president to pave the way for political reforms

May 9: Following widespread clashes between pro- and anti-government protesters, PM Mahinda Rajapaksa resigns. Countrywide violence leaves nine dead and about 300 injured

July 9: President informs the parliamentary speaker that he plans to step down on July 13, after protesters storm into the official presidential residence. PM Ranil Wickremesinghe says he is willing to resign too

July 13: President Gotabaya flees the country; PM gets interim presidential powers; Lanka declares state of emergency