Rajapaksa flew from the Maldives to Singapore’s Changi Airport, where he briefly stayed after leaving Sri Lanka on Wednesday in a military plane. The island nation’s Security Council agreed to his request for a safe passage.
Singapore’s foreign ministry said in a statement, “It has been confirmed that Mr. Rajapaksa has been permitted to enter Singapore on a private visit. He has not sought asylum and has not been granted any asylum. Singapore generally does not give grants.” request for asylum.”
The now-in-exile leader is yet to formally resign from his post, which he vowed to do by Wednesday.
Rajapaksa left for Singapore on a Saudi Arabian airline flight, according to a person familiar with the situation.
A passenger on the plane told Reuters on condition of anonymity that Rajapaksa was met by a group of security guards and was seen leaving the VIP area of the airport in a convoy of black vehicles.
Rajapaksa is yet to resign despite promising to do so by Wednesday, sparking renewed uncertainty in beleaguered Sri Lanka.
His decision on Wednesday to make his colleague Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe acting president triggered more protests, with protesters storming parliament and the premier’s office and demanding that he step down as well.
“We want Ranil to go home,” 29-year-old rickshaw driver Malik Perera, who took part in the Parliament protest, said on Thursday. “They have sold the country, we want a good person to take over, till then we will not stop.”
Protests against the economic crisis have been going on for months and came to light last weekend as hundreds of thousands of people stormed government buildings in Colombo, blaming the powerful Rajapaksa family and allies for runaway inflation, lack of basic goods and corruption. ordained.
Rajapaksa, his wife and two bodyguards left the country early Wednesday for the Maldives in an Air Force plane.
Inside the presidential residence early Thursday, ordinary Sri Lankans roamed the halls carrying the building’s extensive art collection, luxury cars and the swimming pool.
“The fighting is not over,” said 26-year-old student Terence Rodrigo, who said he was inside the campus as protesters occupied it along with the prime minister’s official residence on Saturday.
“We have to make a better society than this. The government is not solving the problems of the people.”
However, the usual protest sites were quiet and the organizers handed over the residences of the President and the Prime Minister to the government on Thursday evening.
Chamira Deduvage, one of the organisers, told Reuters: “With the president out of the country …, holding the occupied places is no longer of symbolic value.”
But another organiser, Kalum Amaratunga, said an action could be imminent after Wickremesinghe branded some protesters “fascists” in an address last evening.
The government imposed a curfew in Colombo from Thursday afternoon (0630 GMT) until Friday morning to prevent further unrest. Local media showed armored vehicles with soldiers patrolling the streets of the city.
The army said soldiers have the right to use force to protect people and public property.
One killed, 84 injured in clashes
One person was killed and 84 injured in clashes between riot police and protesters near Parliament and the Prime Minister’s Office on Wednesday, as people demanded the removal of both Rajapaksa and Wickremesinghe, police said.
The army said two soldiers were seriously injured and their weapons and magazines were snatched away in an attack by protesters near Parliament on Wednesday evening.
Police said the man who died was a 26-year-old protester who succumbed to injuries near the premier’s office.
Rajapaksa had repeatedly assured parliament speaker that he would step down on Wednesday, but his resignation did not come until Thursday, said an aide to Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abhayawardene.
The speaker’s office said in a statement that a planned session of Parliament had been postponed, with opposition leaders scheduled to meet on Friday.
If Rajapaksa’s resignation is not received by the end of Thursday, the speaker may seek the attorney general’s advice on next steps, said the aide, who did not wish to be named given the sensitivity of the matter.
Former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and former Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa, both brothers of the President, informed the Supreme Court through their counsel that they will be in the country at least till Friday.
He was responding to a petition filed by anti-corruption organization Transparency International seeking “action against persons responsible for the current economic crisis https://www.tisrilanka.org/tisl-asks-sc-to- issue-travel-restrictions-on -6-responders-including-mahinda-rajapakse-tulsi-rajapakse-ajit-kabral-and-sr-attigala”.
Immigration officials on Tuesday barred Basil Rajapaksa from leaving the country.
Parliament is expected to name a new full-time speaker on July 20, and a top source in the ruling party told Reuters that Wickremesinghe was the party’s first choice, although no decision had been taken. The opposition’s choice is their main leader, Sajith Premadasa, the son of a former president.
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