Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa flees to Maldives

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Wednesday flew out of the country and landed in the Maldives. Gotabaya Rajapaksa had earlier hinted he would not resign till his family got a safe exit from the country. According to reports, Gotabaya Rajapaksa took a late-night military jet and landed at the airport in Maldives's capital, Male. On arrival in the Maldives, they were driven to an undisclosed location under police escort, an airport official in Male said. The President fled his country with five of his family members and three staffers. He had earlier conveyed a message to the Speaker of Parliament and the Prime Minister to submit his resignation on Wednesday. As per protocol, he needs to send the resignation to the chief justice of Sri Lanka and then send a copy to the PM and the Speaker of Parliament. The President has not been seen in public since Friday. Parliament will elect his replacement on July 20.

His brother, former Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa, also reportedly tried to flee the country to Dubai on Monday but was stopped at the airport. The 71-year-old Basil is being widely held responsible for the country's worst economic crisis which has heaped misery on the people. Prime Minister Wickremesinghe has also announced that he will step down once the all-party government is ready to take over. In the absence of a President and a Prime Minister, Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena will take charge of the country till a new government comes to power.