Sri Lankan president resigns after home stormed by rioters
Opulence disgusts protesters starved of food, medicine and fuel as leaders flee into hiding
THE Sri Lankan president and prime minister resigned yesterday after angry protesters stormed their homes amid the country’s economic crisis.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled before thousands of people gained entry to his official residence yesterday.
The home of the prime minister was also invaded and set on fire.
A Facebook livestream from inside the president’s house showed hundreds, many draped in the Sri Lankan flag, packing into rooms and corridors. Some were laughing and lifting weights in the luxury gym.
Footage showed demonstrators jumping into Mr Rajapaksa’s swimming pool, others were seen rifling through the cupboards and drawers, holding up underwear, before taking selfies on the president’s bed.
“I have never seen such a massive house, there was a lot of beautiful and expensive furniture,” said Shanaka Jayawardana, 32, from Colombo.
“People were all over the place and some even jumped in the pool. How can a president live such a luxurious life when the people of his country suffer?”
The president and prime minister both announced their resignations last night. Ranil Wickremesinghe, who only was appointed by Mr Rajapaksa in May, said he was tendering his resignation for the “safety of all citizens” and would make way for an all-party government.
Sri Lanka has been gripped by months of protests calling for Mr Rajapaksa’s resignation and he was removed from his official residence on Friday as a precaution ahead of yesterday’s planned protest.
“The president was escorted to safety,” said a defence ministry source. “He is still the president, he is being protected by a military unit.”
Mr Rajapaksa’s whereabouts are unknown. Before they announced their resignation, a group of all-party politicians made a request that he stand down.
“The urgent request from the public and the party leaders is the resignation of president Gotabaya and the prime minister Wickremesinghe. We knew from the beginning when the crisis became out of control people would get agitated and angry,” said Harshana Rajakurana, an opposition MP.
The size and strength of Saturday’s protest appears to have taken the president by surprise. After deploying the military to the streets on May 9 after deadly violence, resulting in the deaths of at least eight people, dissent in the country had quelled.
However, after rapidly deteriorating living conditions, which have seen food inflation exceed 80 per cent, and the suspension of fuel sales to non-essential vehicles, thousands took to the streets.
Many travelled to Colombo’s Galle Face from the country’s periphery by clubbing together stockpiled supplies of fuel to hire buses and trucks, gathering outside Mr Rajapaksa’s residence.
“It took two to three hours for protesters to be able to storm the president’s house. The crowd was too large and the military couldn’t control it,” said Haritha Perera, 28, who travelled from the central province of Kandy.
“People were so angry because of the immense suffering they are experiencing. It has been months without access to proper food or medicines.”
At least 30, including two police, were injured and some are in a critical condition. The Galadari Hotel opened its doors and offered buckets of water to protesters that had been tear gassed.
A sitting opposition MP, Rajitha Senaratne, was also attacked in Colombo and footage shared on social media showed him fleeing.
In the southern city of Galle, protesters scaled the walls of Galle International Cricket Stadium disrupting a Test match between Sri Lanka and Australia by chanting anti-Rajapaksa slogans.
Mr Rajapaksa is accused of economic mismanagement and corruption since he was elected in 2019. Sri Lanka owes over £41billion to international lenders but only has around £40million of foreign exchange reserves left.
‘I have never seen such a massive house, there was a lot of beautiful and expensive furniture’