Sri Lanka: Prez Gotabaya to Resign Next Week; PM’s House Torched as Economic Crisis Pushes Island Nation to the Edge | Key Updates

Protests in Sri Lanka intensified on Saturday as swarms of angry demonstrators stormed the official residence of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, while a mob set fire to the private home of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in Colombo. The island nation is facing its worst economic crisis in seven decades even as reports surfaced that the president will finally be putting in his papers by July 13 after months of large-scale agitation.

“Protesters have broken into the private residence of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and have set it on fire,” his office said in a statement. The PM’s house was attacked by a mob just hours after he offered to resign from the post of prime minister and make way for an interim all-party government. Protesters have long been demanding the resignations of Rajapaksa and the PM for months with many camping outside the presidential residence as well as the secretariat since April.

As anger spilled onto the streets of the Sri Lankan capital, at least 45 protesters were injured in clashes with security personnel. According to local media, Rajapaksa had fled his residence on Friday night. Officials in the country’s navy said he was onboard a naval ship and will be out in the sea till it is safe for him to return to the mainland.

Here is all you need to know about Sri Lanka’s worsening crisis due to acute shortage of foreign exchange, leaving the country with not enough funds to pay for imports of fuel, and other essentials:

1. After months of protests leading to his official residence being stormed earlier in the day, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is likely to resign on July 13. Sri Lanka’s local media outlets cited speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena as saying after the party leaders’ meeting.
2. A mob set ablaze the private residence of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in Colombo, police said. The incident took place just hours after he offered to resign. The PM has also been moved to a secure location, a government source told Reuters.
3. Wickremesinghe offered to resign to make way for an all-party government. The Prime Minister’s Media Division said he will resign after such a government is formed and majority is secured in parliament. His office said the 73-year-old will continue as PM until then. He said he was stepping down as fuel distribution is due to recommence as well as the World Food Programme director is due to visit this week, while the debt sustainability report for the IMF is due to be finalised shortly. So as to ensure the safety of the citizens, Wickremesinghe said he is agreeable to this recommendation by the Opposition party leaders.
4. Wickremesinghe’s offer to resign came after it was decided at the all-party leaders’ meeting that the president and the PM should resign immediately. The meeting was held at speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena’s official residence. Abeywardena told Rajapaksa in a letter that several decisions had been made at the meeting. “Under the acting president the present parliament can appoint a new prime minister and an interim government,” said the letter released by the speaker’s office, adding, “afterwards under a set time an election can be held for the people to elect a new parliament,” it added.
5. Majority of the party leaders requested that the speaker should become the acting president and work to form an all-party government under his leadership. In the same week, a coalition government must be formed representing all parties.
6. The party leaders’ meeting was called immediately after irate anti-government protesters stormed into Rajapaksa’s official residence going through barricades.
7. In clashes between protesters and security forces, 45 people as well as seven personnel were injured. Protesters were holding Sri Lankan flags and helmets and had gathered in large numbers, demanding Rajapaksa’s resignation. In a Facebook livestream from inside the president’s house, protesters were seen packed into rooms and splashing around in the swimming pool, while others sat on a four-poster bed and sofas. Some could be seen emptying out a chest of drawers in images widely circulated on social media.
8. Defence ministry sources said Rajapaksa, meanwhile, was whisked away late on Friday as a safety precaution ahead of the planned demonstrations. A naval official said the president is onboard the SLNS Gajabahu, and will stay out in the sea until it is safe for him to return to the mainland. This was the contingency plan that had to be activated earlier than anticipated, the official added. “The Harbour Master at the Colombo Port said a group boarded the SLNS Sindurala and SLNS Gajabahu and left the port,” a local news report stated.
9. Former Sri Lankan cricketing stars Sanath Jayasuriya and Kumar Sangakkara also expressed solidarity with the protesters. Sangakkara said the protests were for the future of the nation, while ex-skipper Jayasuriya asked as to why the president and PM were still waiting to resign despite such large-scale agitation and unrest.
10. In the chaos that ensued outside on the streets of Colombo, there were reports that four journalists were assaulted outside the PM’s private home. The PMO, in a statement, expressed “grave regret” over the assault on journalists by security personnel.(With agency inputs)

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