In the capital, Colombo, crowds of demonstrators stormed the residence and the secretariat of President Gotabaya Rajapaka, forcing him to flee. Under pressure from the street, the strong man of Sri Lanka and his Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, promised to resign.
by
The Sri Lankais hold their breath. What are their country, where shortages make life impossible, will it switch now? If President Gotabaya Rajapaka announced on Saturday July 10 that he would leave power three days later, on Wednesday and that Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, proposed to do the same, none of the two men has officially resigned yet . Earlier in the day, Mr. Rajapaksa had been forced to flee his residence in Colombo, the capital, invaded by the crowd.
After months of protest, the news had a scent of victory but the demonstrators remain on their guard. “I am very proud of what the Sri Lankan people have accomplished but the time is not yet for the celebrations, our leaders could return to their promise,” tempers Hiranya Cooray, a thirty -something Colombo, attached by phone. Saturday, she traveled 10 kilometers to participate in the event organized in the Sri Lankan capital.
“Why wait until July 13 to resign?” Also wonders Yohan Perera, a human resources consultant who also paraded in the streets of the capital on Saturday. “I think they are trying to save time and prepare something,” he said, saying that the demonstrations will continue until the Prime Minister and the President leave their function and that a New government is implemented.
major economic and financial crisis
Number of citizens continue to occupy the residence and the secretariat of the president as well as the Prime Minister’s residence, burnt down the day before. The most daring assure that they will remain until the president’s effective resignation. Some have already left during the night, on foot or trying to do hitchhiking due to the shortage of fuel that strikes the island. Others are waiting to be able to get on the rare buses and trains circulating in the country to go home, after the spectacular day on Saturday.
Sri Lanka is going through a major economic and financial crisis and lacks everything. Pushed to the end by months of deprivation on Saturday, tens of thousands of Sri Lankais flocked to Colombo, to participate in a day of mobilization presented as decisive. They arrived by bus, train, bicycle or on foot, determined to go to the capital to ask, as they have been doing for months, the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaka. At midday, the demonstrators forced the police barricades and burst into the palace, then in the office of the president and in the official residence of the Prime Minister.
You have 69.14% of this article to read. The continuation is reserved for subscribers.