Protesters break into Prez’s palace; set PM’s residence on fire; Gotabaya to quit on Jul 13, Ranil offers to go too
Sri Lanka’s embattled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa would resign on Wednesday, Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena said late on Saturday night, hours after thousands of protesters stormed his official residence and burnt the private residence of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who had also offered to quit earlier in the day to make way for an all-party Government. President Rajapaksa informed the Speaker about this decision to quit after Abeywardena wrote to him seeking his resignation following the all-party meeting of leaders on Saturday evening.
The burning of Wickremesinghe’s house came hours after he offered to resign as protests intensified in the country for the resignation of the Government.
The protestors burnt Wickremesinghe’s house after a tense situation erupted between them and security forces fired tear gas shells to disperse them.
Earlier in the day, anti-Government protesters entered the Presidential House in Colombo. However, he left the house before the mob arrived.
In a bid to control the situation, the PM’s Media Division said that Wickremesinghe will resign after an all-party Government is established and the majority is secured in Parliament. However, he will continue as PM until then. Wickremesinghe told Opposition party leaders that he was taking the decision to step down as the island-wide fuel distribution is due to recommence this week, the World Food Programme Director is due to visit Lanka this week and the debt sustainability report for the IMF is due to be finalised soon. So as to ensure the safety of the citizens, Wickremesinghe said he is agreeable to this recommendation by the Opposition party leaders. Wickremesinghe later told the media that he proposed to the President to establish an all-party Government.
He said once the Government quits, a new Government must be formed and it is not wise for the country to go on without one for long.