Sri Lankan leaders quit as crowds storm palace
THE president and prime minister of Sri Lanka resigned yesterday after thousands of protesters rampaged through the president’s residence and set fire to the PM’s house.
Footage showed demonstrators, angered at the country’s economic meltdown, jumping into Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s swimming pool and crowding on to his bed for selfies after a vast crowd stormed into the compound in the city of Colombo.
Soldiers whisked the president to safety before protesters surged into the colonial-era mansion and began roaming through its state rooms, as well as plundering food from its kitchens. His whereabouts are now unknown. Eyewitnesses reported seeing his luggage being loaded on to a navy warship at Colombo’s port.
Amid mounting violence, a mob yesterday also stormed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s private home in Colombo and set it on fire. Videos showed huge flames shooting into the air after reports that police had fired tear gas on protesters marching towards the mansion. Mr Wickremesinghe earlier announced that he was willing to quit.
The South Asian country is in the grip of its worst financial crisis since independence more than 70 years ago, and President Rajapaksa is widely blamed. It has run out of foreign currency and is crippled by shortages of fuel, food and medicine.
Demonstrators began gathering near the presidential residence yesterday morning after ignoring orders to stay at home. Some had forced railway staff to run trains to Colombo. Police fired tear gas but were unable to hold back the crowd.
The crowd then stormed through gates and ran into the building. Videos posted online showed protesters
somersaulting into a palm-fringed swimming pool, while others hung banners from balconies or crowded into kitchens and began cooking themselves meals. One video showed a mob rolling around on what appeared to be Rajapaksa’s bed.
Elsewhere, another vast crowd of protesters stormed the president’s seafront office building.
In April, Sri Lanka announced it was suspending repayments of foreign loans and its leaders are now in bailout talks with the International Monetary Fund. The country’s debt amounts to £42billion – more than half of which must be repaid by the end of 2027.
An official confirmed Rajapaksa will stand down on Wednesday.
UK Foreign Minister Lord Ahmad described the situation as ‘alarming’.