"Since the president is out of the country, an emergency has been declared to deal with the situation in the country," said Dinouk Colombage, spokesman for Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe
Ishara S. Kodikara / AFP" title="Sri Lanka declares state of emergency after president Gotabaya Rajapaksa flees"src="https://cms-article.forbesindia.com/media/images/2022/Jul/img_189587_000_32e84kg_bg.jpg">In this file photo taken on January 3, 2020, Sri Lanka's new President Gotabaya Rajapaksa makes his first policy address at the national parliament after his landslide electoral victory, in Colombo. Millions of rupees in cash left behind by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa when he fled his official residence in the capital will be handed over to court on July 11, 2022, police said. Image: Ishara S. Kodikara / AFP