Sun 10 July 2022:
The anti-government protesters in Sri Lanka on Sunday continued to occupy the residences of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe, a day after they barged into the premises and set on fire one of the buildings protesting over the nation’s severe economic crisis even as the island nation is still in the dark about the embattled President’s whereabouts.
Rajapaksa’s only communication outside since the protesters came into the city has been with the Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, who announced late Saturday night that the President would resign on Wednesday.
President Rajapaksa informed the Speaker about this decision to quit after Abeywardena wrote to him seeking his resignation following the all-party meeting of leaders held Saturday evening.
The Speaker would become the acting President in the absence of both the President and the Prime Minister. Later, an election among MPs must happen to elect a new President. Prime Minister Wickremesinghe has also offered to resign.
Prime Minister Wickremesinghe whose private house suffered an extensive arson attack last night remains in position despite calls to quit.
In a statement Saturday night, Wickremesinghe, who has expressed his willingness to resign, said “this country is gripped with fuel and food shortages. There will be an important visit scheduled by the WFP next week while crucial talks have to be continued with the IMF. So if the current government is to quit it must be replaced by the next .” Speaker Abeywardena had asked President Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe to resign immediately to make way for an all-party government after the country witnessed its biggest protest yet amid an unprecedented economic crisis.
The IMF on Sunday said that it was closely monitoring the ongoing developments in Sri Lanka and hoped that the political crisis will be resolved soon to allow for the resumption of dialogue on an IMF-supported programme in the cash-starved country.
The chief of defence staff General Shavendra Silva appealed for calm. He said that an opportunity to resolve the current political crisis in a peaceful manner is now available and said the public must assist the security forces to maintain peace and stability.
The police’s special task force was accused of brutally assaulting two television journalists at the prime minister’s private residence protest .
The attack triggered the backlash which resulted in the house being set on fire by the protesters.
The main Opposition SJB said their constituent parties are to meet this morning to take stock of the political situation.
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