The recent events in Sri Lanka should serve as a wakeup call for many leaders around the world. Sri Lanka's embattled president is now stuck in his own country in a standoff that would put to shame anybody in that situation, with airport immigration staff blocking Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s exit to safety abroad. The current crisis follows widespread protests against him over the country’s unprecedented economic meltdown. Tens of thousands of protesters overran Rajapaksa's official residence, forcing him to flee and make an attempt to travel to Dubai. Now Rajapaksa is relying on his immunity from arrest as the president, before formally stepping down. He wanted to go abroad before resigning to avoid the possibility of being detained. Rajapaksa was not the only one trying to escape, his brother Basil who resigned in April as finance minister also faced a similar standoff with the airport staff. Reportedly, some other passengers protested against his boarding their flight and a tense situation developed.
In all likelihood, Rajapaksa will have to resign and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe will become acting president until parliament elects an MP to serve out the presidential term for the remaining 16 months before the tenure ends in November 2024. The chaos and crisis in the country is a result of the acute mismanagement of the economy by Rajapaksa and his cronies who have pushed Sri Lanka to a point where the country has run out of foreign exchange. It does not even have resources for the most essential of imports, and nearly all citizens are suffering from severe economic hardships. Three months ago, the country defaulted on over its $50 billion foreign debt and has been seeking a possible bailout with the IMF, which has been hard to come by.
Fuel is extremely scarce now throughout the country and all non-essential offices and schools have been closed to reduce commute time and save on fuel consumption. A lot depends on how quickly the country’s new president – to be elected on July 20 – takes charge of things and tries a turn-around. The current president and prime minister have offered to quit but the new dispensation will not find it easy to manage the mess left by a highly incompetent outgoing administration. When a government lacks capacity to rule effectively and efficiently, it resorts to ruthless methods of crushing opponents, and that’s what the Rajapaksa administration tried to do. Food and essentials are also running out and the country is going through its worst crisis in over 70 years. It is to be seen what the outcome of the next election is, but whatever this may be, nothing will be easy for the country over the coming months with an inflation rate that has soared so high.