Thousands of protesters have stormed the prime minster’s house in the capital of Colombo and set it on fire today, forcing the leader to resign over public anger at the government’s handling of an economic crisis.
The planned rally, one of the largest anti-government marches in the crisis-hit country this year, turned violent as thousands of furious demonstrators surged past police barricades and into the presidential compound and nearby office of Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
Protesters have set the residence on fire, hours after the Prime Minister said he would resign when a new government is formed over a worsening economic crisis, in the biggest day of demonstrations that also saw crowds storming the president’s home and office. In videos on social media, red smoke can be seen rising into the sky, as flames take hold.
The office of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said the protesters forced their way into his Colombo home on Saturday evening. It’s not immediately clear if he was inside at the time of the attack.
Some protesters, holding Sri Lankan flags and helmets, also swam in the presidential swimming pool, video footage from local TV news NewsFirst channel showed.
Two defence ministry sources said President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was removed from the official premises on Friday for his safety ahead of the planned rally over the weekend, with government spokesman Mohan Samaranayake unsure of Rajapaksa’s whereabouts.
The island of 22 million people is struggling under a severe foreign exchange shortage that has limited essential imports of fuel, food and medicine, plunging it into the worst economic crisis since independence in 1948.
Many blame the country’s decline on President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, as it muddles through with aid from India and other countries and its leaders try to negotiate a bailout with the International Monetary Fund.
The president’s older brother resigned as prime minister in May after violent protests saw him seek safety at a naval base, while three other Rajapaksa relatives had quit their Cabinet posts earlier.
His replacement, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, has informed party leaders that he is willing to resign from his post to make way for an all-party government, his office said a short while ago.
‘Today in this country we have a fuel crisis, a food shortage, we have the head of the World Food Program coming here and we have several matters to discuss with the IMF. Therefore, if this government leaves there should be another government,’ he said.
Much of the public ire has been pointed at the Rajapaksa family, with protesters blaming them for dragging Sri Lanka into chaos with poor management and allegations of corruption and nepotism.
