Disgraced and discouraged Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, along with 14 members of his extended family, sat in a private departure lounge at the airport in Colombo. They twiddled their thumbs all day, as one flight after another took off without them. They had tickets, their passports were in order, they simply refused to line up with other passengers to hand over their documents. Since they won’t follow the rules they don’t get on board.
Stuck in Sri Lanka
If their fellow passengers are going to rip the former Sri Lankan “first family” limb from limb in anger, airport security wants to see it happen on the ground at the check-in counter, not in the air. The popularity rating of former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is even lower than Joe Biden’s.
He was supposed to step down officially on Wednesday, July 13, but was already at the Bandaranaike International Airport on Monday, trying to flee the country incognito. He’s free to go, he just has to face the howling mob like a man.
Rajapaksa sent his minions to the airport with a stack of 15 passports “belonging to the president and members of his family – including First Lady Ioma Rajapaksa – who had booked seats on a Sri Lankan Airlines flight leaving for Dubai at 6:25 p.m. local time.” The family managed to get themselves stashed “in a nearby airport lounge,” as an angry mob continues to occupy their former home and throw pool parties.
Immigration officers “declined to process the passports given to them by presidential aides, as Rajapaksa and his family were not physically present for cross checks.”
That flight soon took off without them. They made another try for Abu Dhabi at 9:20 p.m. local. Again, “the same problem occurred, as the Rajapaksas refused to queue for the flight and show up in person at immigration for passport checks.”
The entire nation of Sri Lanka ran out of gas, literally. Inflation was at 60% when the economy collapsed completely. Citizens are starving. The presidential palace got off lightly because there was enough food in the fridge to throw a barbecue by the pool but the Prime Minister’s pad got torched to the ground. The last thing Rajapaksa wants to do is show his face in a crowd.
Setting up barbecue pits
Striking images of 100,000 enraged citizens massed outside Rajapaksa’s residence have been making the headlines. After the protesters “broke into the property and splashed around in his swimming pool,” social media went wild with video of “demonstrators singing protest songs and chanting slogans calling for Rajapaksa to resign.”
“Other photos showed groups of demonstrators setting up barbecue pits to grill and cook food.” If the Rajapaksa family had been there at the time they may have found themselves hanging over a bed of hot coals as Sri Lankan peasants chant “eat the rich.”
Until the world learned he was hiding out at the airport, nobody knew where he was. On Tuesday, the Sri Lanka Air Force is denying that Rajapaksa “is currently staying in a private residence belonging to Air Force Chief Air Marshal Sudarshana Pathirana.”
The SLAF was quick to squash the rumor as “propaganda intended to tarnish the image of the SLAF and its chief.” Pathirana won’t be flying away to somewhere in the Middle East and would like to keep his head on his shoulders.
This “drastic escalation of unrest” clearly spells “the end of the Rajapaksa family’s political dynasty, which has ruled Sri Lanka for most of the past two decades.” The former despot is stuck in another way, too. Until he steps down, he has “presidential immunity” allowing him to weasel out of any legal charges. That goes away, along with his security detail, the second he quits.
If he can’t sneak away before Wednesday, insiders fear he may try to hold on to power longer. That decision would be met with more howling mobs in the street. He’s better taking his chances with the business travelers at the airport. Then again, maybe not. He could become the first president beaten to death with a piece of American Tourister luggage.
