Sri Lanka: On Thursday evening Embattled and on-the-run Sri Lanka president Gotabaya Rajapaksa landed in Singapore after having fled from the crisis-hit Sri Lanka nation to Maldives two days before. “It is confirmed that Mr Rajapaksa has been allowed entry into Singapore on a private visit,” Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. “He has not asked for asylum and neither has he been granted any asylum. Singapore generally does not grant requests for asylum.”
According to the report, The aircraft landed at Changi Airport of Singapore at 7.17 pm local time (4.47 pm IST).The Lankan President had taken left Colombo for Maldives late on Tuesday evening. Last night, he requested the Maldives government to arrange a private jet to fly him to Singapore, fearing public backlash, sources had said. Sri Lankan security sources say the president – who missed the Wednesday deadline to resign his post, leaving Sri Lanka facing further uncertainty – is expected to stay in Singapore for some time.
In Sri Lanka, protesters demanded that he keep his promise to step down over the island nation’s worst-ever economic crisis. Rajapaksa fled Sri Lanka late Tuesday, as ongoing protests against his government’s handling of the severe economic crisis intensified. Thousands of protesters overran his official residence in Colombo on the weekend and later also forcibly occupied the home of prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe – an ominous signal of their fury and discontent.
On Thursday, the protesters vacated several of the emblematic state buildings they had overrun earlier this week, including the Presidential palace and the office of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. On Wednesday morning, shortly after Mr Rajapansa left, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe declared a state of emergency and asked security forces to restore order.
