Hundreds of protesters stormed the official residence of Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in Colombo today, demanding that the head of government resign as he copes with the economic crisis.
According to local newspaper Ada Derana, protesters broke the security perimeter around Rajapaksa’s official residence in central Colombo, despite police using tear gas to stop the forced entry. The publication stated that the president had already left the building.
“The president has been taken to safety,” a source told AFP news agency. “He’s still the president, he’s guarded by a military unit.”
Members of the crowd posted live footage on social media showing hundreds of people walking through the presidential palace, singing between corridors and rooms.
The colonial-era state mansion is one of Sri Lanka’s main symbols of state power, and officials said Rajapaksa’s departure raises questions about whether he wants to stay in office. “We are waiting for instructions,” a senior official told AFP. “We still don’t know where he is,” he said, adding that the monarch was guarded by the country’s army and “in a safe place”.
Colombo’s main hospital said 14 people were treated after being hit by tear gas canisters.
mass protests
Thousands of people gathered in Colombo and other cities, where sustained protests continued in the third month to demand Rajapaksa’s resignation as he copes with the economic crisis.
“We want a change, we want this president to go,” private sector worker Lakmal Perera, who was among the hundreds of protesters gathered near Galle Face Green park, the epicenter of the protests in Colombo, told EFE news agency.
Some of the slogans chanted by protesters in the capital were “Gotabaya is crazy”, “Gotabaya is afraid” or “Gotabaya is back home”.
Due to the chaotic situation, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe held an emergency meeting with the country’s political party leaders, calling for a “quick solution” to the political crisis, and also called for the convening of Parliament.
Authorities declared curfews in various parts of the Western Province, where the capital is located, after a protest march by university students last night, but the restrictions were lifted on Saturday morning after harsh criticism.
The Sri Lankan Bar Association said in a statement that the curfew was “clearly aimed at silencing freedom of expression and dissent”.
Rohini Marasinghe, director of the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission, said in another statement that he was “in danger” from orders given to the country’s military to prepare troops to restore order in the streets.
Economic crisis
The state of violence in the country comes amid one of the worst economic crises Sri Lanka has experienced since its independence in 1948. Sri Lanka has been experiencing food and fuel shortages, prolonged power outages and hyperinflation for months after the currency ran out. importing vital goods.
Tension and discontent escalated on the island as authorities imposed power cuts that lasted more than 13 hours in late March, with people taking to the streets to demand the government’s resignation.
Since then, hundreds of protesters have settled near the government headquarters in Colombo, and peaceful protests have become a constant throughout the country.
Sri Lanka has defaulted on $51 billion in foreign debt and is in bailout talks with the International Monetary Fund.
Nine people were killed and hundreds injured in clashes across the country after Rajapaksa supporters attacked peaceful protesters outside the presidential office in May.
source: Noticias
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