The speaker of Sri Lanka’s Parliament has stated that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has decided to resign on Wednesday, July 13, as protestors broke into Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s residence and initiated a fire.
The new statement came hours after Wickremesinghe stated that he would resign when a new government will be formed, hours after the country witnessed crowds storming President Rajapaksa’s house and office.
President Rajapaksa, who escaped from his private residence to run from a crowd of protestors, has agreed to step down from power next week, stated parliamentary speaker Mahinda Abeywardana.
He stated that “To assure a peaceful change, the president said he will step down on July 13, Wednesday.”
The office of PM Wickremesinghe stated the protestors forced their way into his home in Colombo on Saturday evening. It is not yet clear if he was inside his home at that time or not.
The PM decided to resign on Saturday, July 9, after party leaders in Parliament asked both he and the president to step down from power on the day protestors stormed the residence of the president and office in an outrage over the deteriorating economic crisis.
Wickremesinghe stated in a voice statement that he would resign when all political parties have agreed on a new government.
A group of lawmakers from the present ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna have written to President Rajapaksa to step down and give an opportunity to another leader to take over with a clear majority of Parliament, said the party’s general secretary Sagara Kariyawasam.
As per the sources, around 16 lawmakers have signed the letter.
On Saturday, several people broke via barricades and broke into President Rajapaksa’s house and nearby office to show their anger against a leader that they hold responsible for the country’s worst crisis.
Around 34 people, including two police officials, got injured while protestors made their way to the residence.
