Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has accepted his resignation as of Wednesday, the country’s parliament speaker said after a day of protests in which protesters stormed the president’s official residence to remove his anger over the country’s severe economic crisis.
Protesters also broke into the prime minister’s private residence and set him on fire.
Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena said on Saturday in a televised statement that she informed Rajapaksa of a decision taken at a meeting of the party’s parliamentary leaders asking her to leave office, and she agreed.
However, Rajapaksa will remain as president until Wednesday to ensure a smooth transfer of power, Abeywardena added.
“The decision to resign on July 13 was taken to ensure a peaceful handover of power,” Abeywardena said. “Therefore, I ask the citizens to respect the law and keep the peace.”
Opposition MP Rauff Hakeem said a consensus had been reached for Abeywardena to take over as interim president and work in an interim government.
Protesters storm the leaders’ houses
Earlier, the office of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said that on Saturday evening protesters stormed his home in Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka. It was not immediately known if he was inside at the time of the attack.
This came hours after Wickremesinghe said he would resign, but only when all parties have agreed on a new government.
He responded to a call by the leaders of the political parties represented in parliament for him and Rajapaksa to resign, after tens of thousands of people gathered in the capital to launch their fury against the leaders they hold responsible for the worst economic and political crisis. of the country.
Rajapaksa, presented at COP26 in Glasgow in November 2021, had been pressured to resign amid the country’s economic crisis. (Andy Buchanan / Getty Images)
“Today in this country we have a fuel crisis, a food shortage, we have the head of the World Food Program coming here and we have several issues to discuss with the IMF,” Wickremesinghe said in a statement, referring to the International Monetary Fund. . “So if this government leaves, there should be another one.”
But he made it clear that he would not resign before a new government was formed, infuriating the crowds who moved close to his home to force him to leave office immediately.
Government proposal of all parties
Wickremesinghe said he suggested to the president that he have a government of all parties, but said nothing about the whereabouts of Rajapaksa. Opposition parties in parliament are currently discussing the formation of a new government.
Rajapaksa appointed Wickremesinghe prime minister in May in hopes that the career politician would use his diplomacy and contacts to revive a collapsed economy. But people’s patience was exhausted as the shortage of fuel, medicine and cooking gas only increased and oil reserves dried up.
Many protesters accuse Wickremesinghe of trying to save Rajapaksa when he was pressured to resign and all other members of his powerful political dynasty left the cabinet.
Protesters, many with Sri Lankan flags, gather in front of the president’s office in Colombo on Saturday. (Thilina Kaluthotage / The Associated Press)
Journalists were reportedly beaten by police
Privately owned Sirasa Television reported that at least six staff members, including four journalists, were hospitalized after being beaten by police while covering the protest near Wickremesinghe’s house.
The Medical Council of Sri Lanka, the country’s top professional body, warned that the country’s hospitals were running with minimal resources and would not be able to cope with the massive casualties from the riots.
Protesters are seen inside the president’s residence on Saturday in Colombo. (Dinuka Liyanawatte / Reuters)
The association said the president, prime minister and government would be responsible if people died or were maimed. He urged the leaders to listen to the cry of the people, to resign and to hand over the reins to a government of all parties.
The crowd in the early hours of Saturday burst into Rajapaksa’s fortified residence. The images showed people in jubilant humor taking a dip in the pool in the residence’s garden. Some lay down on the beds, others made tea and drank, and made “statements” from the conference room that Rajapaksa and Wickremesinghe were to leave immediately.
It was unclear whether Rajapaksa was at his residence when he was assaulted. A government spokesman, Mohan Samaranayake, said he had no information on the president’s moves.
Presentation for the spokesman of the Parliament to take over
Political party leaders in parliament later met and decided to ask Rajapaksa and Wickremesinghe to resign, opposition lawmaker Rauff Hakeem said on Twitter. He said a consensus has been reached that the Speaker of Parliament should assume the temporary presidency and work in an interim government.
Sri Lanka’s economy is in a state of collapse, depending on the help of India and other countries as its leaders try to negotiate a bailout with the IMF. The economic crisis has caused a severe shortage of essential items, leaving people struggling to buy food, fuel and other basic necessities.
Protesters demanding Rajapaksa’s resignation swim in a swimming pool inside Colombo’s presidential palace on Saturday. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has said nothing about the whereabouts of Rajapaksa. (AFP / Getty Images)
The unrest has sparked months of protests, which have nearly dismantled the Rajapaksa political dynasty that has ruled Sri Lanka for most of the past two decades.
The president’s older brother resigned as prime minister in May after violent protests saw him seek security at a naval base. Much of the public anger has been directed at the Rajapaksa family, and protesters blame them for dragging Sri Lanka into chaos with mismanagement and allegations of corruption.
At the president’s office by the sea, security personnel tried to stop protesters who pushed the fences to run across the lawn and inside the colonial-era building.
More than 30 injured
At least 34 people, including two policemen, were injured in fights as protesters tried to enter the residence. Two of the injured are in critical condition, while others suffered minor injuries, said a Colombo National Hospital official who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not allowed to speak to the media.
Thousands of protesters entered the capital from the suburbs after police lifted the curfew overnight. With the scarce fuel supply, many boarded buses and trains to come to the city to protest, while others made their way by bicycle and on foot.
Protesters are reacting after police fired tear gas to disperse them on Saturday in Colombo. (Amitha Thennakoon / The Associated Press)
Religious and protest leaders called on Rajapaksa to resign, saying he has lost the popular mandate. Ven. Omalpe Sobitha, a prominent Buddhist leader, urged parliament to meet immediately to select an interim president, but said Wickremesinghe did not enjoy the support of the people.
Last month, Wickremesinghe said the country’s economy has collapsed. He said negotiations with the IMF have been complex because Sri Lanka was now a bankrupt state.
In April, Sri Lanka announced that it was suspending the repayment of foreign loans due to currency shortages. Its total foreign debt amounts to $ 51 billion, of which it will have to pay 28 billion by the end of 2027.
Police had imposed a curfew on Colombo and several other major urban areas Friday night, but withdrew it Saturday morning amid objections from opposition lawyers and politicians, who called it illegal. legal.
U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka Julie Chung on Friday called on people to protest peacefully and called on the army and police to “grant peaceful protesters space and security to do so.” .
“Chaos and force will not fix the economy or bring the political stability that Sri Lankans need right now,” Chung posted on Twitter.