Sri Lanka: President Gotabaya Rajapaksa flees to Maldives on Air Force jet before resignation

The influential Rajapaksa family's grip on power in Sri Lanka ended as President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country early on Wednesday.

An immigration official said the president and his wife, along with two bodyguards, left the country in a Sri Lankan Air Force plane. The aircraft was headed for the Maldivian capital of Male, a government source said. This was later confirmed by the Sri Lanka Air Force.

The early morning escape of the president follows months of protests in the island nation, which has been battling a severe economic crisis, and culminated in protesters storming the official residences of the president and the prime minister on Saturday.

The  display of public anger forced Rajapaksa to go into hiding and led to him agreeing to step down on Wednesday clearing the way for a "peaceful transition of power."

Rajapaksa family's fall from grace

On Tuesday, immigration officials prevented former finance minister Basil Rajapaksa, the president's brother, from flying out of the country.

This highlighted the waning influence of the Rajapaksa family that had dominated local politics in their rural southern district for decades.

The family managed to consolidate their hold on power when Mahinda Rajapaksa won the presidency in 2005.

Mahinda led the country during the brutal end of a civil war that lasted 26 years, which saw the crushing of Tamil Tiger insurgents in 2009. Gotabaya Rajapaksa served as the defense secretary then.

Since the war, Gotabaya has faced allegations of war crimes and torture, which he has consistently denied.

Mahinda remained in power till 2015, when he lost unexpectedly to the opposition led by his former aide.

The family returned to power in 2019 following the deadly Easter Sunday bombings promising increased security. Gotabaya Rajapaksa was elected president.

In August 2020, his party increased its majority to two-thirds in parliament, allowing for a repeal of laws limiting presidential power, including the two-term limit. He reappointed Mahinda as prime minister and other relatives into ministerial roles.

Mahinda stepped down as prime minister after a mob of his supporters attacked anti-government protesters on May 9.

Before his flight, Gotabaya was the last of six members of the family to cling to power.

What happens next?

According to the Sri Lankan constitution, following the president's resignation, the prime minister should assume the role.

But incumbent Ranil Wickremesinghe is also to step down if consensus is reached on forming a unity government.

It is likely that the parliamentary speaker, Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, will take charge of the country until a new president is elected. The vote is to take place on July 20.

The leader of the main opposition party, Sajith Premadasa, who lost the 2019 presidential election to Rajapaksa, has said he will run for the position.

Sri Lanka's economic crisis

The country's economy has been battered by the global pandemic, which led to the shutdown of its tourism industry.

The drying up of remittances, along with a host of tax cuts drove Sri Lanka to its worst economic crisis seen since the end of colonial rule in 1948.

The government has used foreign exchange reserves to finance essential imports.

Shortages of food, cooking gas, fuel and medicine have stoked public anger with the government with claims of mismanagement, corruption, and nepotism.

Rating agencies, concerned about government finances and the inability to repay large foreign debt, downgraded Sri Lanka's credit ratings from 2020 onwards. This froze the country out of international financial markets.

Runaway inflation reached 54.6% last month and could rise to 70%, the central bank has said.