He leaves the country in a political vacuum. Ranil Wickremesinghe, the prime minister who has taken charge in the president’s absence, is deeply unpopular and tainted by his association with the Rajapaksa clan
who had come to Colombo on July 9th to chase him from office. Then he spent days in hiding to avoid their wrath. Finally, in the early hours of July 13th the disgraced president was spirited out of the country on a military jet. Gota, as he is known, flew to Malé, the capital of the Maldives, but was reportedly set to travel on to another country later in the day.
The situation is complicated by the president’s unwillingness to relinquish power even from without. Gota used his executive powers to commandeer the plane that took him to the Maldives, and did not resign, or make arrangements for his resignation, before fleeing, presumably to avoid losing his immunity from prosecution. He has not spoken in public since leaving his residence on July 8th. A promise that he would resign by July 13th was relayed through the speaker of Parliament, a political ally.
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