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Thousands of Sri Lankans stormed the offices of the prime minister in the capital Colombo on July 13. The protesters demanded he leave his role as acting president after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country. According to our Observer, the unrest will continue to intensify as “desperate” protesters fight for new leadership in a country racked by economic disaster.
In the face of massive protests, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country the morning of July 13, bound for the Maldives. The move came just hours before he had promised to resign from his post. Blamed for a devastating economic crisis in the country that has triggered fuel and food shortages, the president has yet to resign.
With Rajapaksa out of the country, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe – who had also promised to resign – was appointed acting president. He has said he will not resign until a new government is in place.
Turning their anger on the prime minister, thousands of protesters who had made their way to Colombo to ensure the president’s resignation descended upon the prime minister’s office.
On July 9, they had already occupied the presidential palace and prime minister’s residence, turning both buildings into publicly accessible protest zones.
>> Read more on The Observers: ‘Open to the public’: Sri Lankans create protest zones in occupied government buildings
‘There were several ambulances filled up with protesters’
Nisha (not her real name) is a 28-year-old financial analyst from Rathmalana, south of Colombo. She attended the protests in the capital on July 13.
The president had stated that he would be resigning today. So we had initially planned to go to Colombo today to make sure that he would comply with this statement. Honestly, we do not trust anything that comes…
Source : france24
