COLOMBO: Sri Lanka Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe confirmed that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has informed him that he would be resigning from his post. This comes in the midst of increasing pressure from protestors over the situation in the country.
According to the Colombo Gazette, the Prime Minister's media unit reported that Rajapaksa has announced his resignation as he had informed earlier. Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena announced at a press conference on Saturday that the President will step down on July 13.
Thousands of people barged into the President's House in Fort on Saturday after which Rajapaksa announced his resignation. Amid the ongoing protests, even Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe announced his resignation. But the protestors who have camped outside the residences of both the president and prime minister have made it clear that they will continue with the protest until both of them resign.
Dramatic footage emerged from the Prime Minister's official residence of them playing carom board, sleeping on the sofa, enjoying the park area and preparing food for dinner, ANI reported.
The worsening economic situation in the country has led to tensions, and in the past few weeks, there have been reports of several clashes between individuals, members of the police force and the armed forces at fuel stations, where thousands of frustrated people have been standing in queues for hours and sometimes days.
Sri Lanka is facing its worst economic crisis since independence in 1948, coming on the heels of successive waves of COVID-19 that threaten to undo years of development progress and seriously undermine the country's ability to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The lack of oil has forced schools and government offices to remain shut until further notice. Low domestic agricultural production, lack of foreign exchange reserves and devaluation of the local currency fueled the shortages.
The financial crisis will push families into hunger and poverty - some for the first time - with the World Bank estimating half a million people have fallen below the poverty line due to the pandemic.