Gotabaya may have to leave Maldives, next destination could be Singapore or UAE

News Desk

Gotabaya Rajapaksa, president of Sri Lanka, who has fled to the Maldives early today (July 13, 2022), is expected to announce his resignation from office.

On an Antonov-32 military plane, Gotabaya – younger brother of former Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa – is said to have departed the nation with his wife Ioma and a bodyguard.

According to sources cited by TV9, the Maldives government has demanded that Gotabaya Rajapaksa leave the country right away. Given the “sensitivity” of Gotabaya’s arrival, a top official in the Maldives claimed that the embattled Sri Lankan president would “just transit”.

Sources claim that Gotabaya is eligible for refuge in the UAE or Singapore. After months of demonstrations against his government’s economic mismanagement, which has resulted in chronic shortages of food, fuel, and other necessities, Gotabaya flew out of Sri Lanka hours before he was scheduled to formally quit today.

According to sources cited by news agency PTI, former president and Maldivian Parliament Speaker Mohamed Nasheed arranged for Gotabaya to flee Sri Lanka to the Maldives. he was flown to the Maldives on board an air force plane early this morning, according to a brief statement from the Sri Lankan Air Force. This was done in accordance with the constitutional privileges provided to an executive president.