Colombo, July 14 (BNA) Sri Lanka was calm as people waited for the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled to the Maldives to escape a popular uprising that erupted as the country grapples with an economic crisis.
His decision to make his ally Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe acting president sparked further protests, with protesters storming parliament and demanding the prime minister’s office to resign, Reuters reported.
Rajapaksa has repeatedly assured the parliament speaker that he will be stepping down on Wednesday, but his resignation letter did not arrive until Thursday, according to an aide to Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abiwardena.
Sri Lankans wandered the halls inside the president’s residence, taking in the building’s extensive art collection, luxury cars and swimming pool.
“The fighting is not over,” said Terence Rodrigo, a 26-year-old student who has been inside the compound since it was occupied by protesters, along with the prime minister’s official residence.
“We have to make society better than this. The government does not solve people’s problems.”
Protests against the economic crisis have raged for months and culminated last weekend when hundreds of thousands of people took over government buildings in Colombo, blaming the powerful Rajapaksa family and their allies for hyperinflation, shortages of basic goods and corruption.
One person was killed and 84 others injured in clashes between riot police and protesters near Parliament House and the Prime Minister’s office, as people demanded the ouster of both Rajapaksa and Wickremesinghe, police said.
ZHB