Protesters asking for President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's immediate resignation march in the President's Palace in Colombo, Sri Lanka on Sunday, July 10 2022. Picture: BLOOMBERG/JONATHAN WIJAYARATNESri Lankan immigration officials said on Tuesday they prevented the president’s brother and former finance minister Basil Rajapaksa from flying out of the country, as anger mounted against the powerful family for a debilitating economic crisis.
The president has not been seen in public since Friday and his whereabouts are unclear. Parliament will elect his replacement on July 20. “Given the unrest in Sri Lanka, immigration officials are under tremendous pressure to not allow top-level people to leave the country,” KAS Kanugala, chair of the association, said.
A top official in the ruling party said on condition of anonymity that Basil Rajapaksa was still in the country. Petrol has been severely rationed, and long lines have formed in front of shops selling cooking gas. Headline inflation hit 54.6% June and the central bank has warned that it could rise to 70% in the coming months.
On Tuesday, seven people were hospitalised after a fight between two groups of protesters at Temple Trees, police spokesperson Nalin Thalduwa said. It was not immediately clear what led to the fight.The mood was festive at the airy colonial-era building, once one of the country’s most protected with armed guards and watchtowers.
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