After an urgent meeting, Parliament Loudspeaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena Rajapaksa and PM asked Ranil Wickremesinghe resigned immediately to make way for an all-party government.
Abeywardana said in a televised statement: “To ensure a peaceful transition, the president said he would step down on July 13. Rajapaksa, who left the official residence on Friday to Beware of planned weekend protests, which appear to be running underground. Wickremesinghe has also offered to resign and form an all-party government.
Earlier, in a remarkable scene, protesters demanding Rajapaksa’s resignation were seen packing up the rooms and corridors of the presidential palace, splashing in the pool, feeding themselves from the kitchen and occupied a 4-poster bed.
Hundreds were built into the grounds of the whitewashed colonial mansion, with few security personnel in sight. Soon after, Rajapaksa’s nearby seaside office also fell into the hands of protesters. As night fell, protesters stormed Wickremesinghe’s residence and set it on fire, his office said. The Prime Minister has been moved to a safe location.
Firefighters try to put out a fire at the private residence of Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, in Colombo (AP Photo)
Nearly 40 people, including two policemen, were injured and hospitalized during the protest.
In his letter, Abeywardena told Rajapaksa that party leaders wanted him and Wickremesinghe to resign immediately, Parliament would be convened in seven days to appoint an acting president and appoint an interim all-party government under a Prime Minister new, commanding a majority in the National Assembly. It was also decided to call elections in a short time and form a new government.
The island nation of 22 million people is grappling with a severe foreign exchange shortage that has restricted imports of essential fuels, food and medicines, plunging the country into its worst economic crisis since. upon independence in 1948. The spike in inflation, which hit a record 54.6% in June. and is expected to hit 70% in the coming months, has been hard on people.
Political instability could undermine Sri Lanka’s negotiations with International Monetary Fund as they seek a $3 billion bailout, restructure some foreign debt, and raise funds from multilateral and bilateral sources to alleviate the dollar’s drought.
Many blame the country’s decline on Rajapaksa’s economic mismanagement and there have been months of peaceful protests demanding his resignation. The discontent has worsened in recent weeks as the cash-strapped nation stopped taking fuel shipments, forced school closures and split gasoline and diesel stock among essential services.
