Sri Lanka

The announcement by the Sri Lankan parliament's speaker came during a day of unrest which also saw the Prime Minister say he would resign.

Earlier on Saturday, the crowds broke into Mr Rajapaksa’s fortified residence. Opposition parties in parliament were currently discussing the formation of a new government. A government spokesman, Mohan Samaranayake, said he had no information about his movements. It urged the leaders to heed the cry of the people, resign and hand over the reins to an all-party government. In his resignation pledge, Mr Wickremesinghe was responding to a call by leaders of political parties represented in parliament that he and Mr Rajapaksa should quit, after tens of thousands of people trooped to the capital to vent their fury at the leaders they hold responsible for the nation’s worst economic and political crisis. It is not immediately clear if Mr Wickremesinghe was inside the Colombo residence at the time of the attack.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa was stormed by protesters angry at the economic crisis that has engulfed the country for months. | ITV National News.

The country's prime minister has already agreed to resign after party leaders in Parliament demanded both he and Mr Rajapaksa do so. At least 34 people including two police officers were wounded in scuffles as protesters tried to enter the residence. Months of protests have nearly dismantled the Rajapaksa political dynasty that has ruled Sri Lanka for most of the past two decades. A Sri Lankan Parliament speaker has now said President Rajapaksa has agreed to resign and would do so on Wednesday to ensure a smooth transfer of power. A spokesman said the group had set the prime minister's building on fire as unrest between police and the crowd intensified on Saturday night. ITV News Reporter Ian Woods on the protests that have filled the streets of Sri Lanka's capital

Thousands of protesters demanding the resignation of Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa are set to converge on his official residence Saturday as the ...

Demonstrators break in shouting slogans against Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who has been moved for his safety.

However, despite mass protests and enduring public calls for the president to resign, he has so far refused. Images from the scene showed protesters flooding up the grand staircase of the colonial-era building chanting calls for the president to go. According to the defence ministry, Rajapaksa had been relocated from the house on Friday and taken into military protection over concerns that the planned protest would escalate.

Protesters broke into the Sri Lankan leader's official residence in Colombo on Saturday as more than 100000 amassed outside, according to police, ...

Schools have been suspended and fuel has been limited to essential services. A police curfew that was earlier imposed in several police divisions in the Western Province of Sri Lanka was lifted on Saturday. Several politicians and the Bar Association in Sri Lanka referred to the curfew as being "illegal," saying there had been no instances of violence to justify imposing the measure. At least 31 people, including two police officers, have been injured in the protests and are receiving treatment, according to the National Hospital of Sri Lanka (NHSL). Two of the injured are in critical condition, according to police.

Thousands of people demonstrated in the capital against the island nation's worst economic crisis in recent memory and demanded President Gotabaya Rajapaksa ...

You may click on “Your Choices” below to learn about and use cookie management tools to limit use of cookies when you visit NPR’s sites. If you click “Agree and Continue” below, you acknowledge that your cookie choices in those tools will be respected and that you otherwise agree to the use of cookies on NPR’s sites. NPR’s sites use cookies, similar tracking and storage technologies, and information about the device you use to access our sites (together, “cookies”) to enhance your viewing, listening and user experience, personalize content, personalize messages from NPR’s sponsors, provide social media features, and analyze NPR’s traffic.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa flees as anger over shortages of fuel, food and medicine pitches into unrest.

Mobile phone footage shows a swarm of people running riot inside the gated property and on the grounds outside.

In April, Sri Lanka announced it is suspending repaying foreign loans due to a foreign currency shortage. Thousands of protesters entered the capital from the suburbs earlier on Saturday after police lifted an overnight curfew. Last month, Wickremesinghe said the country’s economy has collapsed. Dozens were seen jumping into the pool, milling about the house and watching television. A new prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, took over in May to help steer the country out of the crisis. The president’s older brother resigned as prime minister in May after violent protests saw him seek safety at a naval base, while three other Rajapaksa relatives had quit their Cabinet posts earlier.

Sri Lanka's President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled his official residence on Saturday shortly before protesters, angered by an unprecedented economic crisis, ...

"The president was escorted to safety," the source added. "The curfew was not a deterrent, in fact it encouraged more people to get on the streets in defiance," the defence official said. Police had withdrawn a curfew order issued on Friday after opposition parties, rights activists and the bar association threatened to sue the police chief.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa did not start out in life as a politician, unlike his elder brother Mahinda.

Hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and populist tax cuts, Sri Lanka fell into its worst economic crisis since the end of colonial rule. Taking early retirement he emigrated to the United States, where he worked in information technology. Local armed groups allegedly affiliated with ISIL (ISIS) were blamed for the attacks. He reappointed Mahinda as prime minister and a slew of other relatives into ministerial roles, cementing the Rajapaksa family as one of the most dominant in Sri Lanka’s post-independence history. His campaign was little affected by two lawsuits in the United States that accused him of involvement in the abduction and murder of a journalist, as well as being complicit in the torture of a man belonging to the ethnic Tamil community. After the dramatic storming of the president’s official residence by thousands of protesters on Saturday, the speaker of parliament said in a video statement that Rajapaksa had informed him that he would step down on July 13.

The country's president offered his resignation after months of protests against lengthy blackouts, acute food and fuel shortages.

Rajapaksa later offers to step down on 13 July, parliamentary speaker Mahinda Abeywardana says in a televised statement. The United Nations warns that Sri Lanka is facing a dire humanitarian crisis, with millions already in need of aid. The top police officer in Colombo is assaulted and his vehicle set ablaze. The next day the IMF says it has asked Sri Lanka to restructure its colossal external debt before a rescue package can be agreed. Almost all of Sri Lanka’s cabinet resigns at a late-night meeting, leaving Rajapaksa and his brother Mahinda - the prime minister - isolated. Here is a look back at how the crisis has unfolded:

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said he will leave office once a new government is in place, hours before the speaker of the Sri Lankan parliament said ...

At the president’s seaside office, security personnel tried in vain to stop protesters who pushed through fences to run across the lawns and inside the colonial-era building. Opposition parties were discussing the formation of a new government. Protesters later broke into the Prime Minister’s private residence and set it on fire, Mr Wickremesinghe’s office said. Mr Rajapaksa appointed Mr Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister in May in the hope that the career politician would use his diplomacy and contacts to resuscitate a collapsed economy. Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena said in a televised statement that he informed Mr Rajapaksa that parliamentary leaders had met and decided to request he leave office, and the president agreed. “He asked me to inform the country that he will make his resignation on Wednesday the 13th, because there is a need to hand over power peacefully,” Mr Abeywardena said.

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, whose family many hold responsible for the worst economic crisis in decades, was moved to safety ahead of the ...

A new prime minister and cabinet were sworn in but as the economic situation worsens, anger is beginning to spill over again. Wickremesinghe told parliament recently the country was “bankrupt.” Asking the president to step down he said, “The siege is over. But the country was struggling in the negotiations. Earlier in the day, thousands of people carrying the yellow and red Sri Lankan flag marched toward the president’s home chanting “Gota, go home.” The police fired tear gas to deter the surging crowds. “We are desperate,” said Himantha Wickremerathne, a 34-year-old lawyer who joined the protests.

Both the president and the prime minister have been moved from the Sri Lankan capital to a secure location after demonstrations over the country's worst ...

The British Foreign Office has warned against all but essential travel to the country, which has been left in financial turmoil due to economic mismanagement and the impact of the pandemic. Protester Sampath Perera, 37, criticised the president for "clinging on to power" and warned: "We will not stop until he listens to us." Protesters also assembled outside the Presidential Secretariat, the office of the president, and the home of prime minister. Both the president and the prime minister have resigned after protesters stormed the government district in Colombo over the worst economic crisis to ever hit Sri Lanka. He stepped down after thousands descended on the government district in Sri Lanka's capital Colombo, shouting slogans against the president and dismantling several police barricades to reach his house. Protesters in Sri Lanka have broken into the prime minister's private residence and set it on fire, hours after he said he would resign over the country's deepening economic crisis.

Sri Lanka's President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will resign after angry protesters stormed their homes, giving into popular ...

Sri Lanka woke on Sunday to an uncertain future, with both its President and Prime Minister set to step down after thousands of protesters stormed their ...

If both Wickremesinghe and Rajapaksa resign, under the Sri Lankan constitution, the speaker of parliament will serve as acting president for a maximum of 30 days. Fellow journalists who rushed to their aid were then also attacked, Newsfirst reported. Two of the journalists from the Sri Lankan TV channel Newsfirst had their cameras rolling at the time. Among those injured is a lawmaker from eastern Sri Lanka, she added. Protesters also targeted Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, setting on fire his private residence on Fifth Lane, an affluent neighborhood in the capital. Images show demonstrators inside the whitewashed colonial-era building and hanging banners from the balcony.

Sri Lanka's opposition political parties will meet to agree on a new government a day after the country's president and prime minister offered to resign in ...

Protesters later broke into the prime minister’s private residence and set it on fire, Mr Wickremesinghe’s office said. Thousands of protesters entered the capital Colombo on Saturday and swarmed into Mr Rajapaksa’s fortified residence. Protesters who stormed the president’s official residence, his office and the prime minister’s official residence on Saturday spent the night there, saying they will stay until the leaders officially resign.

Firefighters try to douse a fire at the Sri Lankan prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's private residence · Demonstrators protest inside the President's House ...

IMF officials told reporters they were hoping for the situation in Sri Lanka to improve. The economic crisis in Sri Lanka began earlier this year after its government suspended repayment of foreign loans due to a foreign currency shortage. The slogan, “Gota Go Home” was a consistent call, referring to the beleaguered president. A woman who came with her two teenage daughters told Al Jazeera she wanted to see how the presidents lived. The leaders are responsible for what has happened to this country,” K Chandra, a demonstrator, told Al Jazeera. On Sunday morning, many protesters were still camping in the president’s official residence.

On island's most chaotic day in months amid economic crisis, protesters storm president's residence and torch PM's home.

The protesters later broke into Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s private residence and set it on fire. Outrage over Sri Lanka’s collapsing economy came to a boil on Saturday when tens of thousands of protesters stormed the colonial-era residence of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and later set the prime minister’s house on fire. On the island’s most chaotic day in months, protesters storm president’s residence and set PM’s home on fire in rage over the economic crisis.

The speaker of Parliament says President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has agreed to resign, but the president has not been seen since protesters stormed the official ...

Mr. Wijewardena said that in the days to come, Sri Lankans would have to sacrifice modern comforts. The South Asian nation has run out of foreign currency to pay for fuel, bringing its economy grinding to a halt. The country is still in negotiations with the International Monetary Fund to restructure billions of dollars in foreign debt, on which it has defaulted. As the country’s economy appeared to be headed for a crash, he made his brother Basil Rajapaksa the minister of finance last July. The situation has grown so desperate that Sri Lanka has asked President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia for a credit line to buy fuel. Officials have said that many of its traditional fuel suppliers are reluctant to sell to the country, as the state oil company is mired in debt it is struggling to pay off. Mr. Abeywardena, in a televised statement, said the president had informed him he would resign on July 13, “to ensure a peaceful transition of power.” Officials at the Defense Ministry and in the army did not immediately respond to questions about Mr. Rajapaksa’s location. By the evening, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who took office only in May and was also facing demands to resign, said he would step down, saying he had “the safety of all citizens” in mind. Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, the parliamentary speaker and an ally of the president, announced the development at the end of a chaotic day. In the official residence of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who had fled to an unknown location the day before, the protesters swam in the clear blue water of an outdoor pool, while others crowded around the edges. The president, he said, will resign on Wednesday “to ensure a peaceful transition of power.”