The Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, his wife, and security personnel left the country on a military An-32 aircraft that departed early on Wednesday morning for the Maldives.
An immigration official said that once their passports were stamped, they boarded a special Air Force aeroplane.
Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, the speaker of Sri Lanka’s parliament, said on Saturday that the president would step down on July 13 amid widespread demonstrations and an intensifying economic crisis.
The situation happened after tens of thousands of protestors occupied Colombo’s presidential palace on Saturday and torched the prime minister’s house.
The prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, has also decided to step down following the creation of a coalition administration.
Rajapaksa was ejected from the presidential palace, and it is unknown where he is right now.
The 22 million-person island country has defaulted on all of its foreign debt after becoming crippled by a lack of foreign currency following the collapse of its tourism-based economy.
Anti-government demonstrations have taken place as a result of its inability to pay for fuel and other necessities. Daily power outages have been caused by a scarcity of fuel for power plants. Schools have been closed, and government workers are being urged to work remotely.
The administration is discussing a rescue deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
One of Rajapaksa’s brothers, Mahinda Rajapaksa, resigned from his position as prime minister in May. Protesters have blamed the political dynasty of the Rajapaksa family for the issue.