Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to fly to Singapore via Maldives: Reuters

·Senior Editor

Updated 13 July 2022 at 11:05 am·2-min read

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is set to fly to Singapore after fleeing to the Maldives, according to a Reuters report. — Then Sri Lanka's newly elected president Gotabaya Rajapaksa during his swearing ceremony with his wife Ayoma behind him on 18 November 2019. (PHOTO: AP)

SINGAPORE — Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is set to fly to Singapore after fleeing to the Maldives on Wednesday morning (13 July) amid continuous protests in Colombo, according to a Reuters report, citing a government source in Sri Lanka.

The source, who declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter, said Rajapaksa may resign after landing in Singapore, the Reuters report added.

Yahoo News Singapore has sent queries to Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding the matter.

Rajapaksa promised last weekend to resign on Wednesday to make way for a unity government.

In accordance with his presidential powers, Rajapaksa was able to fly to the Maldives along with his wife and two bodyguards in a Sri Lankan Air Force aircraft with the approval of the country’s defence ministry, officials said.

After Rajapaksa escaped from his official residence in Colombo, tens of thousands of protesters overran it.

Sri Lanka has been plagued by protests in the capital in recent days over Rajapaksa’s mismanagement of the economy. It is facing a severe shortage of fuel and other essential supplies and soaring inflation amid its worst ever economic crisis.

The chaos has worsened as protestors stormed into the office of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who was appointed as the acting president on Wednesday. He has declared a state of emergency and ordered the security forces to take “whatever” measures to restore law and order.

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