Thursday, March 28, 2024

Sri Lanka’s President Rajapaksa to step down on 13 July: Speaker

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has agreed to step down next week, Lanka’s parliamentary speaker, Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana, has said.

“To ensure a peaceful transition, the president said he will step down on July 13,” Abeywardana said in a televised statement.

The announcement came hours after thousands of protesters stormed the president’s official residence to vent their anger over the country’s severe economic crisis.

Rajapaksa will remain as president until 13 July to ensure a smooth transfer of power, Abeywardena said.

“The decision to step down on 13 July was taken to ensure a peaceful handover of power,” he said.

“I therefore request the public to respect the law and maintain peace,” he added.

Meanwhile protesters broke into Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe residence in the capital Colombo and set it on fire.

Earlier in the day, President Rajapaksa was evacuated from the President’s House in the capital, Colombo, before thousands of protesters stormed his residence, demanding his resignation, in one of the largest anti-government marches in the crisis-hit island this year.

Images and witness accounts showed people flooding up the grand staircase of the colonial-era building, with chants calling for the president to go.

Videos of protesters standing and some bathing in the swimming pool inside the president’s home was widely circulated on social media.

Much of the anger and blame for Sri Lanka’s economic crisis has been directed at the president and the Rajapaksa family, who are Sri Lanka’s most powerful political dynasty and held the positions of president, prime minister, finance minister and several other senior cabinet posts in the government.

At least 40 people, including several officers, were injured and hospitalised in Saturday’s protests.

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