Sri Lanka’s President Flees to Maldives

A demonstrator wearing a mask of Sri Lanka's President Gotabaya Rajapaksa takes part in a demonstration over the country's crippling economic crisis, near the parliament building in Colombo on May 6, 2022. (Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP via Getty Images)

Sri Lanka’s embattled president reportedly fled the island nation on a military jet on Wednesday amid mass protests calling for his resignation, ending his family dynasty that has dominated national politics for decades.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, along with his wife and two bodyguards, fled to Male—the capital city of the Maldives—after thousands of anti-government protesters stormed his house on Saturday.

An immigration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity said that authorities could not prevent Rajapaksa from fleeing Sri Lanka as he was still the country’s president, Reuters reported.

Thousands of protesters stormed his official residence on Saturday and vowed to remain there until Rajapaksa resigned. Protesters also seized Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s residence and set it on fire.

Demonstrators protest inside the President's House, after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled, amid the country's economic crisis, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on July 9, 2022. (Dinuka Liyanawatte/Reuters)

Speaker of Parliament Yapa Abeywardena later announced that Rajapaksa would step down from his presidency on Wednesday, while Wickremesinghe said that he would quit after a new government was formed. But later Wednesday, the speaker said that Rajapaksa had appointed the prime minister acting leader “while the president is overseas,” further complicating the crisis.

Basil Rajapaksa, the president’s brother and former finance minister, also attempted to flee Sri Lanka through the VIP terminal at Colombo international airport but was stopped by immigration officials.

The Rajapaksa family has ruled Sri Lanka, a country with a 22 million population, for two decades. Mahinda Rajapaksa served as president from 2005 to 2015, and was reappointed by Gotabaya as prime minister in 2019.

Sri Lanka’s former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, waits to be sworn in as the prime minister at Kelaniya Royal Buddhist temple in Colombo, Sri Lanka on Aug. 9, 2020. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Sri Lanka’s cabinet ministers, including Basil and then-cabinet minister Chamal Rajapaksa, resigned en masse in April following protests over the government’s mishandling of the economic crisis.

Mahinda resigned as prime minister on May 9 after the prolonged protests turned deadly, and has since been hiding at a military base. His replacement, Wickremesinghe, was sworn in on May 12.

Sri Lanka’s Economic Crisis

Sri Lanka defaulted on its debt for the first time in May. The country has sought bailout packages from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and loan packages from its major lending partners, including Japan, China, and India.

Debt repayment issues aren’t new to the country, and failure to provide any consistent, long-term solutions resulted in a downgrading of the country’s credit rating in 2021.

A scarcity of foreign currency resulting from industry shutdowns during the pandemic followed by the printing of more money complicated existing issues.

Rajapaksa’s administration has historically responded by procuring outside funds from international sovereign bonds and the notorious developing country “debt trap” loans from China.

Sri Lanka currently has $51 billion in outstanding foreign debt, $6.5 billion of which is owed to China at a higher interest rate. The country has been unable to pay for essential imports, forcing millions of its people to limit their food consumption.

Wickremesinghe declared Sri Lanka bankrupt on July 5 and said the government will need to finalize and submit its debt restructuring and sustainability plan to the IMF by August.

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka has also increased interest rates by 100 basis points due to rising inflation. The standing lending facility rate was raised to 15.50 percent, and the standing deposit facility rate increased to 14.50 percent.

Wickremesinghe said that Sri Lanka’s total debt has increased from 1.7 trillion rupees ($4.66 billion) in 2021 to 21.6 trillion rupees ($59 billion) in March this year, with $3.4 billion of debt maturing between June and December.

Autumn Spredemann contributed to this report.