- Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa flew from the Maldives to Singapore.
- He has been “allowed entry on a private visit”.
- The president is immune from prosecution.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the president of Sri Lanka, flew from the Maldives to Singapore and landed there on a flight after widespread protests against his government.
The authorities of Singapore declared that he had been “allowed entry on a private visit.” It’s unclear whether Mr. Rajapaksa will remain or relocate.
In response to public outrage over the island’s economic catastrophe, he promised to step down by Wednesday but has yet to do so.
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For Sri Lankans, the price of food, fuel, and other necessities has skyrocketed.
There have been several rumors about the president’s intentions ever since he escaped to the Maldives on a military plane on Tuesday night. According to reports, he flew on a Saudi aircraft with his wife and two bodyguards.
“He has not asked for asylum and neither has he been granted any asylum. Singapore generally does not grant requests for asylum,” Singapore’s foreign ministry said, confirming he had landed.
The leader, who is immune from prosecution because he is the president, is thought to have intended to leave Sri Lanka before resigning to prevent the risk of being arrested by the new administration.
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It does so as the curfew was extended for a second day on Thursday by acting president Ranil Wickremesinghe. To put an end until protests, his government imposed a curfew on Friday from noon (06:30 GMT) to 5:00.
Anti-government protesters started evacuating several of the government buildings they had taken over, which calmed down the streets of Colombo.
“We are peacefully withdrawing from the presidential palace, the presidential secretariat and the prime minister’s office with immediate effect, but will continue our struggle,” said a spokeswoman for the protesters.
