Even after the fall of his official residence and the Presidential Secretariat into the hands of protesting citizens, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa tried to defy the massive public pressure on him to resign. His attempt to leave the country from the Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo failed. According to the latest media reports, Mr. Rajapaksa and his wife fled the country in a military aircraft in the early hours of July 13. Other senior members of the Rajapaksa family are probably still in the country waiting to escape.
These dramatic events, between July 9 and July 13, are of extraordinary significance. The political family that has ruled Sri Lanka for over 15 years has been ousted from power by an uninterrupted peaceful protest movement of ordinary citizens.
