Sri Lanka’s president Gotabaya Rajapaksa announced his resignation on Saturday, hours after a crowd of angry protesters chased him from his residence, as months of frustration caused by unprecedented economic crisis boiled over.
Hundreds of thousands descended on the capital Colombo, calling for Mr Rajapaksa to resign after three months of protests over economic mismanagement, and for the rise in fuel and food prices.
After storming the gates of the presidential palace, a large group of protesters walked through the rooms while others jumped into the compound’s swimming pool. Others were seen sitting in the bedrooms with one of them pulling out what he claimed were the President’s underwear.
The leader boarded a naval craft at the Colombo port and was taken to the Island’s southern waters, where he announced that he was resigning after months of calls by protesters for his resignation.
“To ensure the continuation of Government including the safety of all citizens I accept the best recommendation of the Party Leaders today, to make way for an All-Party Government. To facilitate this, I will resign as Prime Minister,” Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe wrote on Twitter.
His statement came after a meeting of party leaders agreed that both the President and the Prime Minister had to resign.
“To ensure a peaceful transition, the president said he will step down on July 13,” parliamentary speaker Mahinda Abeywardana said in a televised statement.
Footage shared on social media showed the crowd cheering as a fire broke out. No casualties have been reported in the fire so far, and police said Wickremesinghe, and his family were away when the fire started.