During widespread protests over the island’s economic difficulties, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa left Sri Lanka on a military jet.
The 73-year-old, together with his wife and two security personnel, traveled to the Maldives, according to the nation’s air force.
Despite the president’s promise to step down by Wednesday, a formal resignation letter has not yet been received.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has been chosen to serve as president in the president’s absence.
As demonstrators rushed his office and demanded his resignation as well, Mr. Wickremesinghe issued a state of emergency and ordered the military to restore peace.
With Mr. Rajapaksa’s departure, a political family dynasty that had ruled Sri Lanka for the previous two decades ended.
Having vowed to step down on Wednesday, the president has been hiding since Saturday’s invasion by mobs of his home.
His landing in the southwestern island of Sri Lanka, the Maldives, also sparked demonstrations there, with some calling on the Maldivian authorities to stop offering the president’s fugitive a safe harbor.
According to a source who spoke to the BBC, Mr. Rajapaksa has plans to move on to a third country and would not stay in the Maldives.
Additionally departing from Sri Lanka and reportedly making his way to the US is his brother, the former finance minister Basil Rajapaksa.
Thousands of people descended onto Colombo’s streets as soon as Sri Lankans learned of Mr. Rajapaksa’s departure. The primary protest location in the city, Galle Face Green, had a large crowd. Some individuals listened to ferocious speeches on a temporary platform set up for common people to speak.
Screams of “Victory to the struggle,” the protest movement’s catchphrase, punctuated the speakers’ tirades against a government and its officials.
Demonstrators attacked the prime minister’s office after police used tear gas to disperse them nearby, but they were able to enter the office and other state facilities.
The military was to take “whatever action is necessary to restore order,” according to Prime Minister Wickremesinghe, in a previous speech that was broadcast on television.
However, a sizable portion of the demonstrators asserts that they will keep holding rallies until the resignation of both leaders.
Due to what they perceived as Mr. Rajapaksa’s lack of accountability, some protesters were incensed by his departure.
The biggest economic catastrophe in decades has Sri Lankans blaming President Rajapaksa’s administration.
The lack of basic supplies, including fuel, food, and medicine, has been causing them hardship for several months. They also have daily power outages.
The leader, who is immune from prosecution while serving as president, is rumored to have sought to leave the country before leaving to avoid the danger of being detained by the next administration.
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In Sri Lanka, where a functioning administration is necessary to start the country’s recovery from financial devastation, the resignation of the president raises the possibility of a power vacuum.
Politicians from other parties have discussed the idea of creating a new unity administration, but there is currently no indication that they have reached an agreement. Furthermore, it’s unclear whether the general public would accept whatever they come up with.
The constitution stipulates that if the president were to step down, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe would take the presidency. However, in the legislature, the prime minister is regarded as the president’s deputy.
Mr. Wickremesinghe, however, also enjoys a very low level of support. On Saturday, protesters torched his private home; he and his family were not inside. He then announced his resignation in order to pave room for a unity administration, although he did not provide a timeframe.
