By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Sri Lanka Parliament Speaker, Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena has threatened to commence impeachment procedures against the embattled President, Gotabaya Rajapaksa if he does not voluntarily turn in his resignation letter.
The Speaker on Thursday informed Rajapaksa that he should resign as the President at the earliest, else he will consider other options to remove him from the office.
Abeywardena said that he informed Rajapaksa to submit his letter of resignation as soon as possible, stating that he too is under pressure.
With a population of 22 million people, Sri Lanka is under the grip of an unprecedented economic turmoil, the worst in seven decades, leaving millions struggling to purchase food, medicine, fuel and other essentials.
On Thursday, AP cited Maldives government officials as saying that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has left the island and boarded a Saudi Airlines plane that will take him to Singapore and then to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.
Rajapakasa, who has been facing the wrath of angry protestors demanding his resignation, fled from Sri Lanka late on Tuesday night and arrived in the Maldives on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the United Kingdom, Singapore and Bahrain have asked its citizens to avoid non-essential travel to Sri Lanka due to the surging protests in the island nation following a massive economic collapse.
According to a report by Daily Mirror, Rajapaksa, his wife Ioma Rajapaksa and two bodyguards were to take a Singapore Airline last night but due to security concerns, they could not board the flight and had to stay back.
Later, Rajapaksa requested a private jet to Singapore and had discussions with the Maldives authorities late last night.
The report further claimed that Rajapaksa is expected to announce his resignation from the post of Sri Lanka president after he reaches Singapore.
Rajapaksa, 73-year-old Sri Lankan leader, had promised to resign on Wednesday, 13 July.
Instead, he appointed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as the acting President hours after he fled the country, leading to fresh protests in the island nation. Wickremesinghe last week declared Sri Lanka a bankrupt nation.
