COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka plunged deeper into a political crisis on Wednesday as the president fled the country and protesters demanded the prime minister’s resignation, making it difficult to determine who ran the nearly bankrupt nation.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa landed early Wednesday in the Maldives. And the Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, was expected to be sworn in as soon as Mr Rajapaksa officially resigned, his spokesman said.
But protesters, who had called for Mr Wickremesinghe to resign as well, seemed unhappy that he had yet to resign and could instead become interim president. They marched to his office, where police and military fired tear gas to try to disperse them. The crowd continued to grow as the midday sun hung over Colombo, the capital.
The sudden departure of the president left the capital in greater turmoil over what is likely to be a lengthy political transition. The nation has been ravaged by demonstrations for months as Mr Rajapaksa and his cabinet, once dominated by relatives, led the nation through a series of missteps.
A crisis that began with the pandemic that decimated the tourism industry worsened as the government burned foreign exchange reserves, leading to fuel shortages and skyrocketing prices for food and other essential goods. Whoever takes over must quickly gain the trust of the fed-up Sri Lankans.
Mr Rajapaksa took off on an air force plane for the Maldives at about 2 a.m. local time, said Colonel Nalin Herath, a spokesman for Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Defense.
The island nation is experiencing the worst economic crisis in its history, exacerbated by government mismanagement and missteps. Protests over a severe shortage of food, medicine and fuel have taken months.
Mr Rajapaksa went into hiding after protesters took over his office and home. He had told his allies on Wednesday that he would resign.
He told his allies he would resign on Wednesday, but it has not been made official.
Mr Rajapaksa, 73, a professional soldier, is said to be the last member of his family’s dynasty to leave the government. In May, Mahinda Rajapaksa, the prime minister and the president’s older brother, was forced out of office by protests. The finance minister, Basil Rajapaksa, another brother and several other members of the family were also removed from office.
The fuel shortage has turned everyday life in Sri Lanka upside down for months, with the country essentially bankrupt and running out of foreign exchange reserves for essential imports. Food and drug prices have skyrocketed, power cuts have become the norm and public transport is often shut down to maintain fuel supplies.
The transition to a new government is now putting the spotlight on a parliament that has long frustrated the island nation of 22 million, with lawmakers and political parties engaged in protracted and messy battles for positions of power. To complicate matters further, the ruling party loyal to the Rajapaksas still retains a majority of the seats.
The Constitution of Sri Lanka is clear about succession. In the event that a president resigns, the prime minister takes over his duties on an interim basis. The proceedings then go to Parliament, where lawmakers from among their number vote for a new president to complete the term. Mr Rajapaksa’s term had two years to go.
Yet the country’s political leaders remain unpopular and many are associated with the Rajapaksa family. Protesters are adamant that a new leader should be appointed free of those ties. Wednesday morning, as protesters processed the president’s departure, it was unclear whether that would be enough to end months of protests.