Protesters have stormed the official residence of Sri Lanka's President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, calling for him to resign over his handling of the country's dire economic crisis. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said he was willing to resign and make way for an all-party government to take over, but has not yet submitted a letter of resignation. Media reports say protesters have also broken into his official residence. Dramatic images show demonstrators inside the president's building and hanging banners from the balcony, as well as swimming in the residence's pool. The president has been moved elsewhere, security officials say. Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets of the commercial capital, where there have been clashes with security forces.
Thousands of anti-government demonstrators protested outside a stadium in Sri Lanka's southern coastal city of Galle during the country’s Test cricket match against Australia, the world’s No. 1 ranked team, on Saturday. Local media showed videos of large crowds protesting against the government outside the Galle International Stadium, which is about a two-hour drive from Colombo. They waved Sri Lankan flags and carried banners with signs reading “Power to the people” and “GotaGoHome” — demanding President Gotabaya Rajapaksa step down over his handling of the country's dire economic crisis. Many protesters then defied a police ban to march to the top of a fort overlooking the stadium grounds, where they continued to hold banners and chant their demands.
“We’re so lucky to come here and experience Sri Lanka pretty normally. We’re certainly seeing the effects, even in the buses seeing the queues kilometres long around petrol stations, so that’s really hit home for us. No matter what the result is, we’re in a really privileged position. There’s a lot of people making this happen for us to play a bit of cricket,” he added.
Video broadcast on Sri Lankan television and on social media showed the protesters entering President's House — Rajapaksa's office and residence in the commercial capital — after breaking through security cordons placed by police. Images show demonstrators inside the building and hanging banners from the balcony, as well as swimming in the residence's pool. Rajapaksa is not at the site and has been moved elsewhere, security officials told CNN. It is unclear how many security personnel are present at the location. Protesters then also breached Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's official residence, known as Temple Trees, according to local media reports, while video of protesters entering the gates to Wickremesinghe's residence circulated on social media on Saturday.
Earlier this week, Wickremesinghe told lawmakers that negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to revive the country's "collapsed" economy is "difficult," because the South Asian nation of 22 million has entered the talks as a bankrupt country, rather than a developing one. "We are now participating in the negotiations as a bankrupt country. Therefore, we have to face a more difficult and complicated situation than previous negotiations," Wickremesinghe said Tuesday in parliament.
"Due to the state of bankruptcy our country is in, we have to submit a plan on our debt sustainability to (the IMF) separately," he added. "Only when they are satisfied with that plan can we reach an agreement at the staff level. This is not a straightforward process."
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