Protests in Sri Lanka have reached official residence to demand the resignation of the president. Photo: EFE / Chamila Karunarathne.
After a crowd dissatisfied with the country’s economic crisis stormed the Sri Lankan president’s residence, official sources said that Gotabaya Rajapaksa is hiding in a safe place and remains in command of the government.
On Saturday the social climate of the small Asian country exploded, after weeks of economic hardship caused by runaway inflation, as well as severe shortages of fuel, electricity and food.
On Saturday, after a demonstration that brought together tens of thousands of people in central Colombo – the capital of Sri Lanka – to demand Rajapaksa’s resignation for managing the economic crisis, a crowd went to the presidential residence and entered the force.
Before the angry crowd entered, the security guards managed to evacuate Rajapaksa after firing several shots in the air to try to dissuade the crowd.
The last photo that Gotabaya Rajapaksa, president of Sri Lanka, uploaded to his networks.
The streets of the Sri Lankan capital are full of demonstrators who have protested against the serious economic crisis afflicting the country. Photo: AFP.
A defense source confirmed to AFP that the president is safe in a location that has not been disclosed. “The president was escorted to a safe place”the source said.
“He is still the presidentit is protected by a military unit, “added this source.
Within the government, several officials said they were unaware of Rajapaksa’s intentions after his escape.
“We are awaiting instructions,” a senior official told AFP. “We still don’t know where it isbut we know that he is with the Sri Lankan Navy and that he is safe, “he added.
“);}} var currDuration = $ (‘#’ + currId + ‘.jw-text-countdown’)[0].textContent; $ (‘#’ + currId + ‘.jw-title-secondary p’). text (currDuration); }} if ($ (“# embeb_Z6pnyeDs”). children (). length> 0) {setTitle (“embeb_Z6pnyeDs”); } else {jwplayer (“embeb_Z6pnyeDs”). on (‘ready’, function (event) {setTitle (“embeb_Z6pnyeDs”); var labelVideo = JSON.parse (jwplayer (“embeb_Z6pnyeDs”). getPlaylistItem (). comscore); n .StreamingAnalytics.JWPlayer (jwplayer (“embeb_Z6pnyeDs”), {publisherId: “6906409”, labelmapping: ‘c3 = “‘ + labelVideo.c3 + ‘”, c4 = “* null”, c6 = “* null”, ns_site = ” ‘+ labelVideo.ns_site +’ “, ns_st_dt =” ‘+ labelVideo.ns_st_dt +’ “, ns_st_pl =” ‘+ labelVideo.ns_st_pl +’ “, ns_st_ep =” ‘+ labelVideo.ns_st_ep +’ “, ns_st_pr =” ‘+ label_Video.ns. “, ns_st_mp =” ‘+ labelVideo.ns_st_mp +’ “, ns_st_cl =” ‘+ labelVideo.ns_st_cl +’ “, ns_st_pu =” Clarin Digital “, ns_st_st =” ‘+ labelVideo.c3 +’ “‘});}); } jwplayer (“embeb_Z6pnyeDs”). on (‘pause’, function (event) {var passId = “embeb_Z6pnyeDs”; var site = “clarin”; if (site == ‘clarin’) {if ($ (‘# customTitleFor ‘+ passId) .length == 0) {var title = jwplayer (“embeb_Z6pnyeDs”). getPlaylist ()[0].title; // $ ($ (“#” + passId + “.genoaPlayerV3 .vjs-overlay.vjs-overlay-top.vjs-overlay-background”)). addClass (‘disabled’); $ (“#” + IDpass) .append (“
“+ title +”
“); $ (” # customTitleFor “+ passId) .attr (‘style’, ‘display: block’); $ (” # “+ passId +” .jw-media “). addClass (‘degraded’);} else {var curTitle = $ (“# customTitleFor” + passId)[0].textContent; var newTitle = jwplayer (“embeb_Z6pnyeDs”). getPlaylist ()[0].title; if (newTitle! = curTitle) {$ (“# customTitleFor” + passId) .text (newTitle); } $ (“# customTitleFor” + passId) .attr (‘style’, ‘display: block’); $ (“#” + passId + “.jw-media”). addClass (‘degraded’); } // $ (“#” + passId + “.jw-controlbar”). addClass (‘disabled’); $ (“#” + passId + “.jw-svg-icon-play”). css (“display”, “block”); $ (“#” + passId + “.jw-svg-icon-pause”). css (“display”, “none”); } else {$ (“#” + passId + “.jw-media”). addClass (‘degraded’); $ (“#” + passId + “.jw-title”). css (‘display’, ‘block’); $ (“#” + passId + “.jw-controlbar”). css (‘display’, ‘none’); $ (“#” + passId + “.jw-display”). css (‘display’, ‘flex’); $ (“#” + passId + “.jw-display-icon-rewind”). css (‘display’, ‘none’); $ (“#” + passId + “.jw-display-icon-next”). css (‘display’, ‘none’); } sendData (jwplayer (“embeb_Z6pnyeDs”). getPlaylist (), ‘pause’); }); jwplayer (“embeb_Z6pnyeDs”). on (‘play’, function (event) {var passId = “embeb_Z6pnyeDs”; var site = “clarin”; if (site == ‘clarin’) {if ($ (‘# customTitleFor’ + passId) .length! = 0) {$ (“# customTitleFor” + passId) .attr (‘style’, ‘display: none’); $ (“#” + passId + “.jw-media”). removeClass (‘degraded’);} // $ (“#” + passId + “.jw-controlbar”). removeClass (‘disabled’); $ (“#” + passId + “.jw-svg-icon-play” ) .css (“display”, “none”); $ (“#” + passId + “.jw-svg-icon-pause”). css (“display”, “block”);} else {$ (” # “+ passId +” .jw-media “). removeClass (‘degraded’); $ (” # “+ passId +” .jw-title “). css (‘display’, ‘none’); $ (” # “+ passId +” .jw-controlbar “). css (‘display’, ‘block’); $ (” # “+ passId +” .jw-display “). css (‘display’, ‘flex’) ; $ (“#” + passId + “.jw-display-icon-rewind”). css (‘display’, ‘none’); $ (“#” + passId + “.jw-display-icon-next” ) .css (‘display’, ‘none’);} sendData (jwplayer (“embeb_Z6pnyeDs”). getPlaylist (), ‘resume’);}); jwplayer (“embeb_Z6pnyeDs”). on (‘firstFrame’, function (event) {sendData (jwplayer (“embeb_Z6pnyeDs”). getPlaylist (), ‘start’);}); jwplayer (“embeb_Z6pnyeDs”). on (‘complete’, function (event) {sendData (jwplayer (“embeb_Z6pnyeDs”). getPlaylist (), ‘complete’);}); jwplayer (“embeb_Z6pnyeDs”). on (‘adStarted’, function (event) {sendData (jwplayer (“embeb_Z6pnyeDs”). getPlaylist (), ‘adstart’);}); jwplayer (“embeb_Z6pnyeDs”). on (‘adPlay’, function (event) {sendData (jwplayer (“embeb_Z6pnyeDs”). getPlaylist (), ‘adplay’);}); jwplayer (“embeb_Z6pnyeDs”). on (‘adPause’, function (event) {sendData (jwplayer (“embeb_Z6pnyeDs”). getPlaylist (), ‘adpause’);}); jwplayer (“embeb_Z6pnyeDs”). on (‘adComplete’, function (event) {sendData (jwplayer (“embeb_Z6pnyeDs”). getPlaylist (), ‘adcomplete’);});
Source: Clarin
