Sri Lankan President Gotabhaya Raja Paksha has been airlifted to an air force base near the international airport, sparking speculation about his deportation.
According to AFP, the Sri Lankan defense official said the 73-year-old president was being held in a safe place under the Sri Lankan navy after protesters stormed the presidential palace last week.
It may be recalled that after the recent protests, the Speaker of Parliament had assured that President Raja Paksha would resign on July 13 to form an all-party interim government.
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According to a senior government official, President Raja Paksha and his staff were airlifted to Katunaya Air Base, some distance from the capital Colombo, on Monday, from where they were flown back to the capital Colombo by two helicopters.
There has been no official statement on the president's whereabouts, but local media have speculated that he may be deported to Dubai.
According to airport staff, there have been four recent flights to the Middle East, but none of them included President Raja Paksha or his crew.
According to a military official, President Raja Paksha, as Commander-in-Chief, also has the authority to travel in an Air Force plane.
President Raja Paksha has not been seen in public since Friday and has not made any direct statement on his resignation. I don't know yet.
After Raja Paksha's resignation from the presidency, the country's prime minister will be the acting president until parliament elects a member of parliament as president.
The ongoing political crisis in Sri Lanka could make it more difficult for the country to emerge from its worst economic crisis, with a shortage of foreign currency halting imports of oil, food and medicine.
On Sunday, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said it was closely monitoring the situation. It is believed that Sri Lanka's ایم 3 billion bailout package from the IM was also being won.
"We look forward to resolving the current situation so that we can resume our discussions on the IMF support program," the IMF said in a statement.
Many in Sri Lanka blame President Gotabhaya Raja Paksha for the country's economic crisis. Protesters, who have been protesting peacefully since March, have been demanding his resignation.
