By Enyichukwu Enemanna
After the invasion of his private home and office by thousands of Sri Lankans who demanded his resignation on Saturday amid growing economic crisis, foot and gas shortage in the country, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has agreed to resign on Wednesday.
Speaker of Parliament, Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena who revealed this in a televised statement on Saturday that he informed Rajapaksa of a decision taken at a meeting of Parliamentary party leaders requesting he vacates office, and he agreed.
Rajapaksa will remain as President until Wednesday to ensure a smooth transition of power to a new government, Abeywardena added.
The angry protesters on Saturday also broke into the prime minister’s private residence and set it on fire hours after he said he would resign when a new government is formed.
The office of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said the protesters forced their way into his Colombo home in the evening.
Wickremesinghe announced earlier that he would resign in response to calls by political leaders for him and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to quit, after tens of thousands of people trooped to the capital to vent their fury over the nation’s economic and political crisis.
“Today in this country we have a fuel crisis, a food shortage, we have the head of the World Food Program coming here and we have several matters to discuss with the IMF. Therefore, if this government leaves there should be another government,” Wickremesinghe said.
But he made it clear he will not step down before a new government is formed, angering crowds that moved near his home to demand his immediate departure.
Wickremesinghe said he suggested to the president to have an all-party government, but didn’t say anything about Rajapaksa’s whereabouts. Opposition parties in Parliament were discussing the formation of a new government.
Rajapaksa appointed Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister in May in the hope that the career politician would use his diplomacy and contacts to resuscitate a collapsed economy. But people’s patience wore thin as shortages of fuel, medicine and cooking gas only increased and oil reserves ran dry.
Many protesters accuse Wickremesinghe of trying to save Rajapaksa when he came under pressure to resign and every other member of his powerful political dynasty quit the Cabinet.
The crowds earlier on Saturday broke into Rajapaksa fortified residence. Footage showed people in a jubilant mood taking a dip in the garden pool of the residence. Some lay on beds, others made tea and drank, and made “statements” from the conference room that Rajapaksa and Wickremesinghe must immediately quit.
The President’s older brother resigned as Prime Minister in May after violent protests saw him seek safety at a naval base. Much of the public ire has been pointed at the Rajapaksa family, with protesters blaming them for dragging Sri Lanka into chaos with poor management and allegations of corruption.
