COLOMBO: After tens of thousands of protesters overran both men’s official residences on Monday, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa informed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe that he would be stepping down.
Rajapaksa announced his resignation on Wednesday, according to the speaker of parliament, following Saturday’s massive protests following a crippling economic crisis. However, Rajapaksa has not publicly stated his intentions.
Wickremesinghe has declared that he too will step down to make way for an all-party interim administration.
Crowds would continue to occupy the president’s and prime minister’s Colombo residences, according to protest movement leaders, until they resigned from their positions.
On Monday, hundreds of people strolled into the president’s secretariat and residence in Colombo, Sri Lanka’s capital city, and took tours of the colonial-era structures. No one was attempted to be stopped by police.
Jude Hansana, 31, who has been at a protest location outside the home since early April, declared, “We are not going anywhere until this president leaves and we have a government that is acceptable to the people.
“The people are fighting for more comprehensive political reforms. not simply for the president to go. This is just the beginning.
Dushantha Gunasinghe, a different protester, claimed he had travelled to Colombo from a town 130 kilometres (80 miles) away, walking part of the way due to the fuel shortage. On Monday morning, he claimed to have arrived at last.
