COLOMBO –
Sri Lankan immigration officials prevented the president’s brother and former finance minister Basil Rajapaksa from flying out of the country on Tuesday, as anger grew over the island’s worst economic crisis in decades.
It was unclear where Rajapaksa, who also has US citizenship, intended to go. He resigned as finance minister in early April as street protests erupted against shortages of fuel, food and other necessities, and he resigned his seat in parliament in June.
His older brother, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, will step down as president on Wednesday to make way for a unity government, after thousands of protesters stormed his and the prime minister’s official residence on Saturday demanding his ouster.
The president has not been seen in public since Friday and his whereabouts are unclear. Parliament will elect his replacement on July 20.
The main opposition party has nominated its leader, Sajith Premadasa, the son of an assassinated president, for the post. The ruling party will decide on a candidate later in the day. read full story
The Sri Lanka Immigration and Emigration Officers Association said its members refused to serve Basil Rajapaksa in the Colombo airport VIP departure lounge.
“Given the unrest in Sri Lanka, immigration officials are under tremendous pressure not to allow high-level people to leave the country,” KAS Kanugala, president of the association, told Reuters.
“We are concerned about our safety. So, until this issue is resolved, the immigration officials working in the VIP room have decided to withdraw their services.”
Images of Basil Rajapaksa in the hall were published by local media and widely shared on social media, with some people expressing anger at his attempts to flee. Basil Rajapaksa could not immediately be reached for comment and a close aide declined to provide details.
A senior ruling party official said on condition of anonymity that Basil Rajapaksa was still in the country.
The Rajapaksa family, including former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, have dominated politics in the country of 22 million for years and most Sri Lankans blame them for their current misery. Police have said that if a court orders, they could investigate how protesters found around $50,000 in cash at the president’s home. Read the full story
‘FREEDOM’
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said during a visit to Tokyo that Sri Lanka was in a “very difficult situation” and that one of its main debt holders, China, had an important role to play. read full story
China is Sri Lanka’s fourth largest lender, behind international financial markets, the Asian Development Bank and Japan.
In recent months, neighboring India has provided billions of dollars in loans to Sri Lanka to help pay for vital supplies. China has intervened less publicly, but said it supports the island nation’s efforts to restructure its debt. Read the full story
The tourism-dependent economy was severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and the drop in remittances from Sri Lankans abroad, while the ban on chemical fertilizers hurt agricultural production. The ban was later revoked.
The Rajapaksas implemented populist tax cuts in 2019 that hit government finances, while shrinking foreign exchange reserves restricted imports of fuel, food and medicine.
Gasoline has been severely rationed and long lines have formed outside stores that sell cooking gas. Headline inflation reached 54.6% last month and the central bank warned it could rise to 70% in the coming months.
Sri Lankan dollar sovereign bonds extended recent declines on Tuesday to hit record lows. The 2025 bond USY8137FAC24=TE suffered the biggest losses, down as much as 1,125 cents and the bonds traded between 25 cents and 27 cents on the dollar, according to Tradeweb data. read full story
The protesters have promised to stay in the official residences of the president and prime minister until they step down. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe did not move into his official residence, Temple Trees, after taking office in May, and was away when protesters torched his private home in Colombo on Saturday.
On Tuesday, seven people were hospitalized after a fight between two groups of protesters at Temple Trees, police spokesman Nalin Thalduwa told Reuters. It was not immediately clear what led to the fight.
A witness, who declined to be identified, described it as a minor incident.
The atmosphere was festive in the airy colonial-era building, once one of the most protected in the country with armed guards and watchtowers.
Several hundred people walked through its stately rooms as a young man in a baseball cap played a grand piano next to a large front porch, to applause from onlookers. Families with young children picnicked on the lawn and a vendor passed by selling lottery tickets.
In a guard booth, two paramilitary soldiers with assault rifles stood as tourists filed out of a waiting room after taking photos of themselves sitting in high-backed, carved chairs.
“Freedom!” said Mallawaara Arachchi, a 73-year-old retired engineer who tours the building. “What we expected we have won. We will be the best country in the world in the near future.”
Sri Lanka’s external debthttps://tmsnrt.rs/33M3AIQ
Family rule in the Rajapaksa government of Sri Lankahttps://tmsnrt.rs/3uFXjJ2
(Written by Krishna N. Das; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Nick Macfie)