Sri Lankan president calls for seaborne escape after standoff at airport

Crowds gather after protesters occupied the residence of Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa

Arun Shankari

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Update with sea route option

The Sri Lankan president was considering using a naval patrol ship to flee the island on Tuesday, official sources said.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa has promised to resign on Wednesday and clear the way for a “peaceful transition of power” after widespread protests against him over the country’s worst economic crisis.

The 73-year-old leader fled his official residence in Colombo on Saturday before thousands of protesters occupied him. Officials said that he then wanted to travel to Dubai.

As president, Rajapaksa is exempt from arrest, and is believed to want to go abroad before leaving office to avoid the prospect of being taken into custody.

But immigration officials refused to go into the VIP suite to have his passport stamped, while insisting he would not go through public facilities for fear of reprisal from other airport users.

Sri Lanka political unrest

Staff

The president and his wife spent the night at a military base next to the main Bandaranaike International Airport after missing four flights that could have taken them to the United Arab Emirates.

Rajapaksa’s youngest brother Basil, who resigned as finance minister in April, missed his Emirates flight to Dubai early Tuesday after a similar standoff with airport staff.

Basil – who has US citizenship in addition to Sri Lankan nationality – tried to use a paid concierge service for business travelers, but airport and immigration staff said he was withdrawing from the fast-track service with immediate effect.

“There were other passengers who protested against Basil boarding his flight,” an airport official told AFP. “It was a stressful situation, so he quickly left the airport.”

A diplomatic source said Basil had to obtain a new US passport after leaving behind him at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, when Rajapaksa made a hasty return on Saturday to avoid crowds.

Official sources said a suitcase full of documents along with Rs 17.85 million in cash was also left behind at the luxurious mansion, which is now in the custody of a Colombo court.

There was no official word from the office of the President about his whereabouts, but he remained the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces with military resources at his disposal.

A top defense source said the president’s closest military aides were discussing the possibility of taking him and his crew abroad on a naval patrol ship.

A Navy boat was used on Saturday to transport Rajapaksa and his aides to the northeastern port city of Trincomalee, from where they were brought back to the international airport on Monday.

“The best option now is to get out to sea,” the defense official said. “He can go to Maldives or India and fly to Dubai.”

He said another option, opened in 2013 and named after the president’s elder brother Mahinda, would be to hire a plane to take him to and from the country’s second international airport at Mattala.

It is widely considered a white elephant, has no scheduled international flights and has been described as perhaps the world’s least-used international airport.

Rajapaksa is accused of mismanaging the economy to such an extent that the country has run out of foreign exchange for even the most essential imports, causing serious problems for its 22 million population.

If he steps down as promised, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will automatically become acting president until parliament elects an MP for the presidency, which expires in November 2024.

Sri Lanka defaulted on its foreign debt worth $51 billion in April and is in talks with the IMF for possible relief.

The island has almost exhausted its already short supply of petrol. The government has ordered the closure of non-essential offices and schools to reduce traffic and save fuel.

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