[ad_1]
Thousands of anti-poverty and price-gouging protesters who stormed the president’s residence in the Sri Lankan capital today set it on fire, hours after the head of state said he would step down “when the new government is formed”.
Videos shared on social media show red smoke rising from the residence and then flames engulfing the building.
That of the president, thus becomes the home of several political officials who have been burned by protesters in recent weeks.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s office said earlier that protesters had also forced their way into his home on Saturday. It is not clear whether he was inside the building at the time of the attack, but announced he would resign when the parties agreed on a new government.
The reaction was a response to political parties calling for his and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s resignation, as hundreds of thousands of people have demonstrated to express their anger at rising prices and the country’s economic and political crisis.
But he made it clear that he would not leave until a new government was formed, angering crowds who flocked to his home to force him to leave immediately.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa left his official residence today to escape angry mobs of protesters as he agreed to step down next week, Speaker of Parliament Mahinda Abeywardana announced.
“To ensure a peaceful transition, the president will step down on July 13,” Abeywardana said in a televised statement.
Widely shared footage today showed protesters wearing Sri Lankan flags and some wearing helmets swimming in the pool of the president’s home before it burned down.
The island of 22 million people is experiencing severe food and fuel shortages in its worst economic crisis since independence in 1948.
The bulk of the anger has been directed at the Rajapaksa political dynasty family, which protesters blame for plunging Sri Lanka into chaos through corruption, mismanagement and nepotism.
top channel
[ad_2]
Source link
