Sri Lankan media stated that Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa did not board a flight to Singapore on Thursday (July 14) morning from the Maldives after departing his country the previous day.
Reuters reported on Wednesday night, citing a government source, that Mr. Rajapaksa was set to fly to Singapore. The statement said that the president will submit his resignation after arriving in Singapore.
Sri Lanka's Daily Mirror reported Thursday morning that Mr. Rajapaksa and his wife did not board a Singapore Airlines aircraft to Singapore from Male, the capital of the Maldives, but instead are awaiting a private plane.
The Daily Mirror cited sources from the Maldives as saying they did not board their planned aircraft "due to security fears."
On Thursday, the Maldives Journal reported that Mr. Rajapaksa was still in the Maldives. Mr. Rajapaksa was allegedly whisked to a resort island by the Maldives Police Service upon his Wednesday arrival, according to the Maldives News Network.
The Daily Mirror afterwards claimed that a private jet for the Sri Lankan president's trip had arrived in Male.
Currently, Sri Lanka is experiencing its worst economic crisis. Mr. Rajapaksa is accused of mismanaging the economy to the point that the government has run out of foreign currency to pay necessary imports, resulting in great suffering for its 22 million inhabitants.
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