The situation remained a mystery Sunday in Sri Lanka as President Gotabaya Rajapaksa agreed to step down this week after being forced to leave his crowded palace following massive demonstrations in Colombo due to the catastrophic crisis hitting the country.
On Sunday, the United States urged the nation’s future leaders to “act quickly” to find solutions to deteriorating economic conditions, “including shortages of electricity, food and fuel,” a State Department spokesman said. “The President has said he will step down on July 13 to ensure a peaceful transition of power,” Sri Lankan Parliament Speaker Mahinda Abiwardana said in a televised statement. Two people close to the president have resigned: press chief Sudeva Hitiyarashi and information minister Pandola Gunawardana, who also stepped down as head of the presidential party. Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, next in line after Rajapaksa, immediately called an emergency government meeting in search of a “quick fix” to the crisis, inviting political party leaders to join the meeting.
He expressed his willingness to step down to make way for a government of national unity. But this situation failed to calm the protesters, who broke into the prime minister’s house and set it on fire. President Rajapaksa, 73, managed to escape minutes before hundreds of protesters entered his palace, which was normally reserved for receptions, but moved there in April after his private home was stormed. Soldiers guarding the official headquarters fired into the air to hold back demonstrators until it was evacuated and its inhabitants boarded a warship bound for territorial waters south of the island.
Serious injury
However, a defense source indicated that Rajapaksa should arrive on Sunday at the Trincomalee naval base in the northeast of the island. After midnight on Saturday, Chief of Staff General Chavendra Silva called for calm on television, stressing that “there is an opportunity to resolve the crisis in a peaceful and constitutional way.”
Colombo National Hospital, the capital’s main hospital, reported admitting 105 people after Saturday’s protests, while 55 people were still receiving treatment on Sunday. Seven journalists were among the wounded. “One person is in a very serious condition after being shot,” Pushpa Suissa, a spokeswoman for the hospital, told AFP. On Sunday, protesters who occupied the presidential palace said they would not leave until the president stepped down.
“Our fight is not over yet,” student leader Lahiru Warasekara told reporters, adding, “We won’t give up this fight until he really leaves.” Student activists said they found 17.8 million rupees (48,000 euros) in Rajapaksa’s room and handed it over to the police.
Hundreds of thousands of people gathered in Colombo to demand the resignation of Rajapaksa. The protesters also clashed with the police, who tried to disperse them with tear gas. Local TV channels showed footage of hundreds of people climbing the gates of the presidential palace. The protesters also posted videos on social media of crowds roaming inside while some jumped into the pool inside the complex and others roamed the bedrooms.
damage
The demonstrators took control of the president’s nearby offices on Saturday night after they camped in front of them for three months. Sri Lanka was a middle-income country with a standard of living that India would envy, but it has been affected by the loss of tourism revenue following the 2019 jihadist attack and then the COVID-19 pandemic. An unprecedented crisis since the island of 22 million gained independence in 1948 has been exacerbated by a series of bad policy decisions that the ruling presidential family has blamed since 2005. The government is discussing a rescue plan with the International Monetary Fund. who said on Sunday He hopes that “the current situation will be resolved to allow the resumption of our dialogue.” During protests in May, nine people were killed and hundreds injured.
