The interim President of Sri Lanka, Ranil Wickremesinghe, declared a state of emergency in the country.

Earlier, Wickremesinghe was named acting president after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country, House Speaker Mahidna Abiwardana said as thousands of protesters called on the two men to step down.

“Due to his absence from the country, President Rajapaksa informed me that he has appointed the prime minister as acting president, as provided by the constitution,” Mahidna Abiwardana said in a short televised speech.

Protests continue in Sri Lanka for the 101st and one day in a row since the start of the protest movement. The “fight” campaign for Rajapaksa’s resignation, coordinated extensively through social media, began on April 9 last year, when tens of thousands of demonstrators from all over the country pitched tents in front of the president’s offices in the capital, Colombo.