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Amidst severe public protest and an ultimatum to resign by protestors who took over the President's <keyword id="7173" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="house" source="Orion">House</keyword> in a violent protest on Saturday, Sri Lanka President <keyword id="214050" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="gotabaya-rajapaksa" source="Orion">Gotabaya Rajapaksa</keyword> left the country secretly, an emigration officer confirmed to IANS on early Wednesday. President <keyword id="60944" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="rajapaksa" source="Orion">Rajapaksa</keyword> had left for the <keyword id="6354908" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="maldives" source="Orion">Maldives</keyword> together with his wife and a bodyguard from the country's main airport in Katunayake, closer to the capital, the officer said, seeking anonymity. Rajapaksa who attempted to escape together with his brother former <keyword id="25455" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="finance" source="Orion">Finance</keyword> Minister <keyword id="139726" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="basil-rajapaksa" source="Orion">Basil Rajapaksa</keyword> on Tuesday early was prevented to do so by immigration officers. However, he left the country in an Antonov-32 aircraft belonging to <keyword id="338540" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="sri-lanka-air-force" source="Orion">Sri Lanka Air Force</keyword> which took off from the main international airport, the source confirmed. On Tuesday morning, the two Rajapaksa brothers were to leave for the UAE to go to the US, but immigration officers at the VIP lounge protested and declined to serve them. Amidst protests, the Rajapaksa brothers had left the airport, and <keyword id="8318969" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="gotabaya" source="Orion">Gotabaya</keyword> is said to have taken refuge for almost a day at an <keyword id="6354954" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="air-force" source="Orion">Air Force</keyword> base adjoining the airport. On July 9 (Saturday), Rajapaksa left his official residence after protestors entered it and symbolically ousted the President. Gotabaya had announced that he would resign on Wednesday but had allegedly retracted stating that he would not resign if his family members were not allowed to flee the country. Protestors had given an ultimatum till Wednesday by 1 p.m. for the resignation of the President and warned that mass crowds will be summoned to Colombo if retract his promise. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/how-salaried-indians-are-trying-to-deal-with-mounting-expenses/articleshow/92829628.cms">Stock trading and side hustles – this is how salaried Indians are trying to deal with mounting expenses</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/health/news/covid-19-cases-rise-by-30-world-and-the-pandemic-is-nowhere-near-over-says-who/articleshow/92841482.cms">Covid-19 cases rise by 30% world and the pandemic is 'nowhere near over', says WHO</a>

Sri Lankan President slips away to Maldives after protestors take over his house

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Sri Lankan President <keyword id="14431751" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="gotabaya-rajapaksa" source="Orion">Gotabaya Rajapaksa</keyword> was blocked from catching a flight out of his country.</li><li>He attempted to flee the island nation after protestors stormed his official residence on Saturday.</li></ul>Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was blocked from leaving his own country on Tuesday as airport immigration staff refused to facilitate his escape from a nation in crisis.The president, who's been accused of mismanaging <keyword id="11916313" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="sri-lanka" source="Orion">Sri Lanka</keyword>'s economy to the point of collapse, fled his official residence just before it was breached by protestors on Saturday and sought a flight to Dubai, <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/asia-pacific/20220712-sri-lankan-president-in-standoff-with-airport-staff-while-attempting-to-flee">Agence France-Presse reported.</a>However, when he arrived at the airport, immigration officers declined to enter the VIP suite to stamp his passport, per AFP, citing government sources. Rajapaksa had avoided going through the public customs channel out of fear that people at the airport would harass or attack him, the outlet reported.As a result, he and his wife missed four flights to the United Arab Emirates, per AFP.Rajapaksa <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sri-lanka-protesters-storm-presidents-residence-in-colombo-2022-7">promised he would resign</a> on Wednesday as mass protests rage across the capital of Colombo over Sri Lanka's worst economic disaster in decades. Thousands of demonstrators <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-sri-lanka-protesters-occupying-mansions-make-themselves-at-home-2022-7">stormed the presidential residence on Saturday</a>, overrunning its luxurious grounds and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sri-lanka-protesters-storm-presidents-residence-in-colombo-2022-7">making themselves at home.</a>Citing official sources, AFP reported that authorities seized a suitcase left at Rajapaska's residence that contained documents and nearly 18 million rupees, or $50,000.<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-07-12/airport-staff-block-ex-fm-basil-rajapaksa-from-leaving-sri-lanka">According to Bloomberg</a>, Rajapaksa's younger brother, Basil, who was also the country's former finance minister, received similar treatment from immigration officials at the airport.The officials had refused to process the younger Rajapaksa's departure after airport staff heard he was trying to flee and demanded that he stay in the country, the outlet reported.An airport official told AFP that other passengers "protested against Basil boarding their flight" and that he "hurriedly left the airport" after being prevented from flying.According to a defense source cited by AFP, the Rajapaksas could possibly still leave the country aboard a navy vessel to India or the Maldives.

Sri Lanka's president is stuck in his own country after airport staff blocked him from fleeing amid an economic crisis

<ul><li>The 74-year-old Sri Lanka People's Party (SLPP) leader was administered the oath of office by his younger brother and President Gotabaya <keyword id="60944" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rajapaksa">Rajapaksa</keyword> at <keyword id="9725887" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="the-rajamaha-viharaya">the Rajamaha Viharaya</keyword> in Kelaniya, a north Colombo suburb, at the auspicious hour of 9:28 am local time.</li><li>This is Mahinda Rajapaksa's fourth innings as <keyword id="71" type="POSITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Prime-Minister">prime minister</keyword>. Supporters of SLPP lit firecrackers to celebrate his swearing in as the 13th Prime Minister of Sri Lanka.</li><li> The Rajamaha Viharaya, also known as the Kelaniya temple, dates back to 2,500 years. According to the temple website, the shrine has often been associated with the rise and fall of Sri Lanka. </li></ul> Sri Lanka's former president Mahinda Rajapaksa was sworn in on Sunday as the new prime minister at a centuries-old Buddhist temple after his party won a landslide victory in parliamentary elections that allowed the influential family to consolidate power in the island nation. The 74-year-old Sri Lanka People's Party (SLPP) leader was administered the oath of office by his younger brother and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa at the Rajamaha Viharaya in Kelaniya, a north Colombo suburb, at the auspicious hour of 9:28 am local time. This is Mahinda Rajapaksa's fourth innings as prime minister. Supporters of SLPP lit firecrackers to celebrate his swearing in as the 13th Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. The Rajamaha Viharaya, also known as the Kelaniya temple, dates back to 2,500 years. According to the temple website, the shrine has often been associated with the rise and fall of Sri Lanka. There is a popular saying that as the temple rose, Sri Lanka rose and as it fell, the country and its administration fell. It has thus had a deep association with the political powers of the country, the website states. Mahinda Rajapaksa completed 50 years of parliamentary politics in July this year. He was elected as a Member of Parliament at the young age of 24 in 1970. He has since been elected President twice and has been appointed Prime Minister thrice before. He was prime minister between April 2004 and November 2005. He was prime minister for 52 days in 2018, and from November 2019 to August 5, 2020. The SLPP, led by Mahinda Rajapaksa, registered a landslide victory in the August 5 general election, securing two-thirds majority in Parliament needed to amend the Constitution to further consolidate the powerful Rajapaksa family's grip on power. India's High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Gopal Baglay on Saturday became the first envoy to congratulate the new prime minister when he called on Mahinda Rajapaksa. Baglay recalled that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had complimented the people and Government of Sri Lanka on the successful conduct of elections and had acknowledged the impressive electoral performance of the SLPP. He reiterated the strong desire and the commitment of the Indian government to work very closely with the new government and Parliament in Sri Lanka for further strengthening comprehensive bilateral cooperation, the Indian High Commission here said. Mahinda Rajapaksa polled over 500,000 individual preference votes -- the highest ever recorded by a candidate in the country's election history. The SLPP won in 145 constituencies, bagging a total of 150 seats with its allies, a two-thirds majority in the 225-member Parliament. The cabinet ministers, state and deputy ministers are expected to be sworn-in this week. The Rajapaksa family -- including SLPP founder and its National Organiser 69-year-old Basil Rajapaksa, who is the younger brother of Gotabaya Rajapaksa, 71, and Mahinda Rajapaksa -- has dominated Sri Lankan politics for two decades. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had won the November presidential election on the SLPP ticket. In the parliamentary election, he was seeking 150 seats mandatory to execute constitutional changes, including to repeal the 19th Amendment to the Constitution which had curbed the presidential powers while strengthening the role of Parliament. Activists, already alarmed by the diminishing space for dissent and criticism in the island nation, fear such a move could lead to authoritarianism. The biggest casualty from the election outcome was the <keyword id="289630" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="United-National-Party">United National Party</keyword> (UNP) of former prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe which managed to win only one seat. The country's grand old party failed to win a single seat from any of the 22 districts. UNP leader and four-time prime minister <keyword id="9725889" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="wikremesinghe">Wikremesinghe</keyword> was unseated for the first time since he entered Parliament in 1977. Mahinda Rajapaksa earlier served as the country's president from 2005-2015, a period which was mired by allegations of human rights abuses, especially against the Tamils. He enjoys cult status among the 77 per cent Sinhala majority community for his action to end the brutal nearly three-decade-long civil war in the island nation with the defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 2009. The LTTE led by its leader Velupillai Prabhakaran had waged a violent campaign in the nation to carve out a separate Tamil homeland in the north and east of the island. The military during Mahinda Rajapaksa's regime as president defeated the rebel group, a task all his predecessors since 1972 had failed to achieve. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/tech-mahindra-cfo-says-lateral-hiring-will-take-time-and-only-after-utilisation-improves-to-pre-covid-levels/articleshow/77440879.cms">Tech Mahindra CFO says lateral hiring will take time — and only after utilisation improves to pre-COVID levels</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/how-karan-bajaj-sold-his-less-than-18-month-old-startup-white-hat-jr-to-byjus/articleshow/77415329.cms">A WhatsApp message, six weeks of talks and a $300 million deal – how Karan Bajaj sold his less than 18-month old startup White Hat Jr to Byju’s</a>

Mahinda Rajapaksa takes oath as the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka for the fourth time

<ul class="generic-article__summary--ul content--ul"><li class="generic-article__summary--li content--li">Incoming leader says he will not allow the island nation to be pulled into a proxy contest among the world’s major powers</li><li class="generic-article__summary--li content--li">But analysts foresee a cautious creep towards the pro-Beijing policies of predecessor and brother Mahinda</li></ul>Sri Lanka’s freshly elected president Gotabaya Rajapaksa will take a “low key” approach in restoring the cosy ties the country enjoyed with China during the 2005-2015 presidency of his brother, analysts said, as the new leader stressed on Monday that he would adopt a strictly neutral foreign policy. Paul Staniland, a prominent scholar of Sri Lankan politics, said Gotabaya was more likely to “spread his bets by reaching out to a variety of powerful states in the region and beyond”. Expectations before Saturday’s elections had been that he would not only sweep the polls against his main rival, Sajith Premadasa, but that he would also swiftly revert back to the overtly pro-Beijing foreign policy of his brother Mahinda. In his inaugural speech, the president said he would not allow the island nation to be pulled into a proxy contest among the world’s major powers. The 70-year-old won 52.25 per cent of the nearly 16 million votes cast, with the country’s majority Sinhala population overwhelmingly backing his platform that touted a return to his brother’s strongman leadership style and a focus on national security. The Rajapaksa brothers – alongside their two other siblings Basil and Chamal – are immensely popular among Sri Lanka’s Sinhalese population because of their role in crushing Tamil separatists and ending a 26-year civil war in 2009. “We will remain neutral in our foreign relations, and stay out of any conflict of world powers,” said Gotabaya after being sworn in on Monday. During the tenure of the outgoing president Maithripala Sirisena and the current Prime Minister <keyword id="300704" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ranil-Wickremesinghe">Ranil Wickremesinghe</keyword> – Sri Lanka’s key political mover and shaker of the last five years – the consensus has been that Colombo prioritised ties with the United States over Beijing. But foreign policy researchers said that a return towards a China-friendly policy was not so clear-cut. For one, there remains public trepidation about China from the Mahinda era, during which Sri Lanka chalked up large public debt due to the former president’s penchant for using cheap Beijing-backed financing to fund mega-infrastructure projects. A quarter of Sri Lanka’s foreign debt, which stands at 45 per cent of GDP, is owed to China. Among the projects built using Chinese financing are the now-infamous deep water port and airport in Hambantota, the Rajapaksa clan’s stronghold. The Sirisena government in 2017 was forced to hand over control of the seaport to Beijing as part of a debt-for-equity swap. The Rajapaksas’ dalliance with China also rattled regional power India, and Mahinda has previously accused New Delhi’s top spy agency of engineering his shock 2015 defeat to Sirisena. “This round is going to be about playing things in low key for China, but playing nevertheless,” said Jabin Jacob, an international relations professor at India’s <keyword id="44903" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Shiv-Nadar">Shiv Nadar</keyword> University. “Perhaps the Rajapaksas have learned from the first time that there are consequences to playing the China card with India,” Jacob added. “It also does not help that the perception is that Chinese projects such as the Hambantota port and airport do not make money and have cost Sri Lanka.” Hemant Shivakumar, a senior analyst for India and South Asia at the consultancy Control Risks, offered a similar assessment – suggesting the new president is not likely to make dramatic changes to foreign policy even as he seeks to rebuild strained ties with China. “[Gotabaya] Rajapaksa is rightly perceived to be pro-China, and he will want to refocus the relationship and bring it back on track, while being cognisant of these [debt-related] issues,” he said. The analyst added that there was likely to be a “convergence of interests” between Gotabaya and China, with Beijing eager to show the new government that it was a “good development partner” and the new president hoping to show he would engage with the Asian power on Sri Lanka’s terms. Staniland, an associate professor specialising in South Asian security issues and political violence at the University of Chicago, said a likely effort by the new president to present Sri Lanka as open to having “multiple friends” would be in part due to “lessons of the past and a related desire not to rely too heavily on China”. He said it would be unsurprising if “in the medium term we see an overall tilt back towards China even as Colombo maintains a ‘portfolio’ approach to its international relations”. N. Sathiyamoorthy, a researcher based in India’s southern <keyword id="20154" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="tamil-nadu">Tamil Nadu</keyword> state close to Sri Lanka, offered an altogether different take – suggesting that the outgoing government of Sirisena and Wikremesinghe was in fact more China-leaning compared to the Rajapaksas. He said Mahinda merely signed the Hambantota deals that had been “hanging in the air for decades” and that “it is quite likely that others in his place would have done the same”. The same could not be said about the outgoing government, Sathiyamoorthy added. He said the Sirisena government, while blaming the Rajapaksas for plunging the country into a “debt trap”, was ultimately responsible for green-lighting the 2017 deal that handed over Sri Lankan land to China on a long-term lease. One mistake that the researcher – head of the <keyword id="12864" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Chennai">Chennai</keyword> chapter of the Observer Research Foundation think tank – said the Rajapaksas were unlikely to repeat was their “indiscretion” in allowing Chinese submarines to be berthed in Colombo in 2014. Located off the tip of southern India, Sri Lanka has found itself increasingly a theatre for the US-China strategic tussle, with both superpowers seeking to strengthen their presence in the Indian Ocean. The Sirisena government – in particular Prime Minister Wikremesinghe – blocked further dockings of Chinese submarines but found itself having to furiously push back against rumours that it had <keyword id="7016615" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Secret-Plans">secret plans</keyword> to let the US build a naval base in the eastern region of Trincomalee. Apart from policies towards the world’s two superpowers, the new president’s view of Indian Prime Minister <keyword id="6354477" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Narendra-Modi">Narendra Modi</keyword>’s government will be parsed by observers. Shivakumar, the New Delhi-based Control Risk analyst, said India would be scrutinising the new president’s national security policies in view of Sri Lanka’s extremist attacks earlier this year, as well as his policies towards the minority Tamils. Gotabaya, who like his brother Mahinda has denied allegations of presiding over <keyword id="52767" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Human-rights">human rights</keyword> abuses as they spearheaded the bloody civil war victory over Tamil separatists in 2009, has said he will significantly strengthen security and intelligence agencies that he says were sidelined by Sirisena’s administration. Jacob said he expected Gotabaya to visit India followed by China in his first 100 days in office. “But it will probably be China that will load him with the goodies,” the China-India watcher said. This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: New president set for low-key china approach

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Sri Lankan President slips away to Maldives after protestors take over his house

IANS

Sri Lanka's president is stuck in his own country after airport staff blocked him from fleeing amid an economic crisis

Matthew Loh

Mahinda Rajapaksa takes oath as the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka for the fourth time

PTI

Sri Lanka’s tilt towards China expected to be ‘low key’ as new president Gotabaya Rajapaksa takes the reins

SCMP

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