Rajapaksa, who had promised to resign, appointed PM Ranil as acting President hours later; thousands of protesters defy emergency
Sri Lanka declared a state of emergency on Wednesday as angry protesters stormed the Prime Minister’s office in Colombo, hours after President Gotabaya Rajapksa fled to the Maldives on a military jet, amid the country’s worst economic crisis in decades.
Rajapaksa, the 73-year-old leader who had promised to resign on Wednesday, appointed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as the acting
President hours after he fled the country, escalating the political crisis and triggering a fresh wave of protests.
Announcing that Rajapaksa has appointed Wickremesinghe to act to perform his functions while he is abroad, Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena said he has informed him over the telephone that he will resign today as promised. The Speaker also said the vote for the new President will take place on July 20. In a special televised statement, Wickremesinghe declared a nationwide emergency and imposed a curfew in the city and surrounding areas. “We must end this fascist threat to democracy. We can’t allow the destruction of state property. The President’s Office, the President’s Secretariat and the Prime Minister’s official residence must be returned to proper custody,” he said.
“Those who are in my office want to stop me from discharging my responsibilities as acting President. We can’t let them tear up our Constitution. We can’t allow fascists to take over. Some mainstream politicians, too, seem to be supporting these extremists. That is why I declared a nationwide emergency and a curfew,” Wickremesinghe said.
He said he has instructed the security forces to enforce the emergency and curfew to bring the situation to normalcy, adding that a committee comprising the heads of armed forces has been given the responsibility of doing so with zero political intervention.
However, the development enraged anti-Government protesters, who wanted both the President and Prime Minister to quit over mishandling the economy. Thousands of protesters waving Lankan flags defied the emergency and surrounded the building of the PM Office. The police fired tear gas on protesters who broke through a barricade and stormed the Prime Minister’s office, calling for his resignation.
Wickremesinghe said he was alarmed by the inputs received by the Intelligence services.
“Despite the President leaving, and measures taken to elect a new President, some groups in the struggle have organised to take over the Prime Minister’s Office, and surround the Air Force Commander’s residence for providing an Air Force plane for the President to fly to the Maldives. They had also decided to surround the Navy Commander’s residence and Army Commander’s residence. These groups tried to obtain control of the country,” he added. Sri Lanka’s state-owned television channel Rupavahini briefly suspended
its telecast on Wednesday as protesters stormed the building. Also, a second state television channel went off the air, less than an hour after Rupavahini suspended its operations.
Earlier, a statement from the Sri Lanka Air Force said that Rajapaksa left the country along with his wife and two security officers on a military jet and added that it was done with
approval from the Ministry of Defence.