The Government of the Maldives has stated that it granted diplomatic clearance for President of Sri Lanka Gotabaya Rajapaksa at the official request of the Government of Sri Lanka.
In a press release, Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the government granted diplomatic clearance for a Sri Lanka Air Force aircraft carrying President Rajapaksa and his spouse on a transit visit, to land at the Velana International Airport (VIA) on July 13. It added that President Rajapaksa left to Singapore on July 14.
President Rajapaksa, his spouse and two bodyguards fled Sri Lanka on July 13 to escape a popular uprising over his family's role in a crippling economic crisis. Protests against the economic crisis have simmered for months and came to a head when hundreds of thousands of people took over government buildings in Colombo, blaming the Rajapaksa family and allies for runaway inflation, shortages of basic goods, and corruption.
Protest organisers handed back the president and prime minister's residences to the government after Sri Lanka's parliament speaker announced he has accepted President Rajapaksa's recently filed resignation. He said that with the resignation, the process would start to appoint a new president and he asked that Sri Lankans allow the democratic process to run its course. He said he hoped to complete the process of selecting a new president in seven days.