HUNDREDS STORM PRESIDENT’S HOME AS CRISIS DEEPENS

COLOMBO: Police fired tear gas and water cannon at hundreds of protesters trying to storm the home of Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in the capital Thursday, demanding his resignation as the nation’s economic crisis worsened.

The island of 22 million people is in the grips of its worst downturn since independence, sparked by an acute lack of foreign currency to pay for even the most essential imports.

Diesel - the main fuel for buses and commercial vehicles - was unavailable at stations across the island on Thursday, according to officials and media reports - crippling public transport.

And on Thursday, the power minister said the country was turning off street lights to save electricity.

“We have already instructed officials to shut off street lights around the country to help conserve power,” Pavithra Wanniarachchi said.

Outside Rajapaksa’s home in Colombo’s Mirihana residential quarter, anti-riot squads beat back demonstrators after they blocked the roads for more than two hours.

“I am unable to go home because our area is barricaded,” one resident told AFP. “People are shouting for the president and his family to step down.”

Official sources told AFP that Rajapaksa was not at home during the protests.

The rally had been called by social media activists who were not immediately identified, but their ire was directed at Rajapaksa and his family.

Videos shared on social media showed men and women shouting “lunatic, lunatic go home” and demanding that all members of the powerful Rajapaksa family step down.

The president’s elder brother Mahinda serves as prime minister while the youngest - Basil - holds the finance portfolio. The eldest brother Chamal is agriculture minister while nephew Namal holds the cabinet post for sports.