By-Safia Jabeen Parveen
As Sri Lanka was going through economic crises, it declared state of emergency on Wednesday as 1,000 of people prime ministers office after the country’s president flew to the Maldives.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksha had announced at weekend to resign on Wednesday and make it clear way for a peaceful transfer of power after fleeing his residence in Columbo just before 10,000 of protesters entered his residence.
As president enjoy immunity from arrest and he is believed to leave the country before stepping down to avoid the possibility of being detained.
He and his wife with two bodyguard were on board an Antonov 32 military aircraft that took of from Sri Lanka’s main International airport immigration source told AFP.
Thousand of protesters entered into the office of prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe hours later when there was no formal announcement that the President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was stepping down, who would become an acting president after the resignation of present president.
The situation arose to such level that the police had to fired tear gas to stop them and then official declared state of emergency to control the situation. There was curfew across the Western Province including Colombo.
The presidential succession process will be taken between three days – the minimum ime taken to elect an MP who will serve at the place of Rajapaksa’s term, which going to end in November 2024.
All this started when Gotabaya was accused of misgovern the economy which led the country to run out of foreign exchange to finance creating hardship for 22 million people. Sri Lanka was on $51 million foreign debt in April. The country is also running out of supply of petrol. The official government announced the closure of non-essential offices and schools to reduce commuting and save fuel.
