Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa will step down on 13 July after protesters stormed his official home and set the house of the Prime Minister on fire. PHOTO: Twitter/@MaddyWithKhan
Sri Lanka President SURRENDERS and agrees to step-down
Sri Lanka President will vacate his seat on 13 July, following violent protests on Saturday which saw thousands raiding his home.
Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa will step down on 13 July after protesters stormed his official home and set the house of the Prime Minister on fire. PHOTO: Twitter/@MaddyWithKhan
Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa will step down on Wednesday after protesters stormed his official home and set the house of the Prime Minister on fire.
Videos on social media showed the scary moments when hundreds of thousands of people descended on the capital, Colombo, calling for the President to resign. The mass public violence comes after months of protests over the economic management of the country.
SRI LANKA PRESIDENT SURRENDERS
Rajapaksa announced that he will step down on Wednesday, 13 July. The Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, also agreed to resign.
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The decision by the two leaders is to ensure a peaceful handover of power, said Parliamentary Speaker Mahinda Abeywardana.
To ensure a peaceful transition, the President said he will step down on July 13. The decision to step down on 13 July was taken to ensure a peaceful handover of power. “I, therefore, request the public to respect the law and maintain peace.”
Mahinda Abeywardana.
The news of the President’s resignation sparked celebratory fireworks in parts of Colombo.
But earlier in the day, the President had to evacuate his Presidential home as thousands stormed his residence.
Video footage shows the protesters lounging in the home and jumping into the Presidential pool.
ALSO READ: A wave of violence kills three in Sri Lanka, 150 wounded
ISSUES IN THE SMALL ISLAND SPARK ANGER
The country is suffering extensive inflation and struggling to import food, fuel and medicine.
Citizens have not had fuel for days and therefore cannot work, or take their children to school. Many in the country blame the state of decline on Rajapaksa.
Rajapaksa’s political dynasty has ruled the island nation, with a population of 22 million, for the past two decades.
One of the President’s brothers resigned as prime minister last month and two other brothers and a nephew resigned their positions from parliament earlier.
