Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Millions of Sri Lankan people wanted him to go, raising the familiar slogan “Go Gota Go!”, since early this year. But when he actually wanted to go, they stopped him at the Colombo Airport.
Embattled Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who had announced to step down from his post on Wednesday, was on Tuesday stopped from fleeing the crisis-hit island nation as watchful airport immigration staff blocked his exit to safety abroad, according to a South China Morning Post report.
On Saturday last week, he had fled his official residence as tens of thousands of protesters, angry over the unprecedented economic crisis in the island nation, stormed his house and have since captured it. Later, Gotabaya, a former military officer, offered to resign on Wednesday, clearing the way for a “peaceful transition of power”.
As President, Gotabaya is currently immune to arrest. He wanted to flee to Dubai before resigning to avoid the possibility of being detained, the SCMP said.
However, alert immigration officers refused to go to the VIP suite to stamp the 73-year-old leader’s passport. The panicked President, fearing for his life, refused to go through the public facilities to avoid reprisals from other airport users and passengers.
Gotabaya and his wife missed four flights to Dubai and spent their night at a military base next to Sri Lanka’s main international airport, Colombo, the reports said.
On Monday evening, something similar happened to the President’s younger brother and Sri Lanka’s former finance minister. They stopped Basil Rajapaksa from boarding a flight to Dubai.
Basil attempted to leave the nation, but airport immigration officials refused to let him go out of the country as the passenger protested, Daily Mirror reported.
He had to return without being able to proceed after immigration officials’ refusal, the report added.
Since early this year, Sri Lanka is suffering from its worst economic crisis ever, after its independence from the British in 1948. It followed successive waves of Covid-19.
The crisis will push families into hunger and poverty – some for the first time – adding to the half a million people who the World Bank estimates have fallen below the poverty line because of the pandemic.