Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled his official residence in Colombo on Saturday minutes before it was overrun by angry protesters, a source in the country’s Defense Ministry told AFP. Hours later, both the prime minister’s official residence and the prime minister’s private residence were set on fire. Rajapaksa has already announced his resignation.
According to BBC News, the information was delivered by the President of the Republic to the Speaker of Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena. The resignation of the position will become effective on July 13, as anticipated.
The country has been hit by a wave of protests at a time when it is going through a serious economic crisis, which the British newspaper The Guardian describes as the biggest crisis since 1948, the year in which the island country gained independence from the United Kingdom. .
This Saturday, the private television network Sirasa showed images of angry protesters storming the presidential palace, until now strongly protected by the military.
The same defense source indicated that Gotabaya Rajapaksa is still the president of Sri Lanka and is now under the protection of the Armed Forces in a secret location. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe resigned this Saturday after the protests. However, the demonstrators would have set fire to his official residence, according to NDTV.
???? #SriLankaProtests | Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s residence set on fire pic.twitter.com/jWs33YBhzY
— NDTV (@ndtv) July 9, 2022
After that, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s private home was also surrounded by protesters and is currently on fire, BBC News reports.
“Protesters broke into Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s private home and set it on fire,” an official from his office confirmed to BBC News. Wickremesing lived in this house with his family, known as the Fifth Lane residence, and used his official residence, Temple Trees, only for official business.
The prime minister’s whereabouts are currently unknown as his house began to burn. Nor is it known where the President of the Republic is.
The unprecedented economic crisis is severely limiting the country’s access to fuel, which has already prompted President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to request a fuel loan from Russia and resume flights between Colombo and Moscow to boost tourism on the island.
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In reaction to the crisis, the population of Sri Lanka has staged large protests demanding the resignation of the president.
In the protests on Saturday, despite the resistance of the police, who fired tear gas cannons to disperse the crowd, the demonstrators managed to invade the official residence of the President.
Office of the invading Presidential Secretary #SriLanka #GoHomeGota #GoHomeRanil2022 pic.twitter.com/3ZSZRtAjCo
— CharithMania (@CharithMania) July 9, 2022
The images spread on social networks show the crowd climbing the grand staircase of the presidential palace, lying on sofas and beds and even enjoying the swimming pool of the residence.
The demonstrators take advantage of the swimming pool of the President of #SriLanka after invading your residence #GoHomeGota #SriLankaProtests pic.twitter.com/hrH2bC9EUB
— Alni Farsi (@alni_farsi) July 9, 2022
According to The Guardian, Sri Lanka’s unprecedented economic crisis has led to the total collapse of the country’s economy in recent months, with the government currently without any ability to import food, fuel or medicine.
With inflation currently at 54.6% and food prices quintupling, the country has suspended all fuel sales and closed schools. In the health sector, practically all interventions and operations have been canceled or postponed.
Article updated at 18:03 with new information on what is happening in the country
Source: Observadora
