Saturday’s wild protests were the culmination of several months of demonstrations intensified by an ever-deepening economic crisis.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa announced his resignation after his official residence and office in Colombo were occupied by a crowd.
“To ensure a peaceful transition, the president will step down on July 13,” Sri Lankan Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena said in a televised speech on Saturday.
According to the President, the resignation decision had been taken by the party leaders in Parliament. The president had then been informed and accepted the decision.
Bathing in the pool
Hundreds of thousands were out on the streets of the capital to demand responsibility from their leaders.
TV pictures and video posts on social media show how the protesters are swimming in a pool inside the presidential residence after forcing the gates. Some run around laughing and holding up underwear inside what appears to be a bedroom.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa is said to have been transported by road from the Colombo waterway.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe called for an emergency government meeting which ended with him also agreeing to resign.
The protesters also broke into the prime minister’s private residence and set it on fire.
Several injured
Several people have been injured in clashes between protesters and police and the military. A spokesman for the largest hospital in Colombo states that three people are being cared for for gunshot wounds and 36 for breathing difficulties after being exposed to tear gas.
On Sunday, the US State Department called on Sri Lanka’s government to act quickly to identify and find long-term solutions to the country’s problems. The Sri Lankan parliament is being asked to approach the whole thing with “the best interests of the nation” in mind, rather than “an individual political party”.
People have climbed on one of the police’s vandalized water cannon cars.
An American spokesman distances himself from the violence of the crowd but at the same time advises the authorities not to attack protesters and journalists.
The people of Sri Lanka have the right to make their voices heard peacefully, the spokesman said, adding that the United States called for a “thorough investigation” of all “protest-related violence”.
The country has been short of food and fuel for months and is often hit by long power outages. Inflation is skyrocketing and there is not enough foreign currency to be able to import important goods.
The protesters have long believed that President Rajapaksa is responsible for the crisis in the country and demanded his resignation.
A large crowd forced the security barricades and entered the presidential residence.