It was not clear whether Rajapaksa was inside the residence in the capital, Colombo, but footage taken by mobile phones showed a large number of people inside the well-fortified house and outside. A government spokesman, Mohana Samaranayake, said he had no information on whether Rajapaksa had left the residence. Later on Saturday, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe offered to resign after party leaders in parliament demanded that both he and the embattled president step down. Wickremesinghe said in a statement that he would step down when all parties agreed on a new government. Protesters gather at Sri Lanka’s presidential palace in Colombo on Saturday. (AFP/Getty Images) “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 many issues to discuss with the IMF,” he said, referring to the International Monetary Fund. “So if this government goes, there will have to be another government.” Wickremesinghe’s decision came after protesters, many who have occupied the entrance to Rajapaksa’s office for the past three months, toppled barricades to vent their anger at a leader they blame for the nation’s worst economic crisis since independence in 1948. . Video posted on social media showed hundreds of protesters running to the president’s residence, chanting “I have to go home,” calling the president by his nickname. At the president’s office, security personnel tried to stop protesters who broke through fences and stormed the colonial-era parliament building, which has been converted into a presidential office.
More than 30 injured
At least 34 people, including two police officers, were injured in clashes as protesters tried to enter the residence. Two of the injured are in critical condition, while others have suffered minor injuries, said an official at the Colombo National Hospital who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. Thousands of protesters entered the capital from the suburbs earlier Saturday after an overnight curfew was lifted. Protesters react after police used tear gas to disperse them in Colombo, the Sri Lankan capital, on Saturday. (Amitha Thennakoon/The Associated Press) Footage released on Saturday showed people in a happy mood taking a dip in the garden pool of the presidential residence. Some lay on beds, others made tea and drank and made “statements” from the conference room that Rajapaksa and Wickremesinghe must be stopped immediately. Wickremesinghe said he suggested the president have an all-party government, but said nothing about Rajapaksa’s whereabouts. Opposition parties in parliament were currently 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 revive a battered economy. But people’s patience ran out as shortages of fuel, medicine and cooking gas increased and oil reserves ran low. Many protesters accuse Wickremesinghe of trying to save Rajapaksa when he came under pressure to quit, as every other member of his powerful political dynasty had resigned from the cabinet. Protesters calling for the resignation of Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa swim in a pool inside the presidential palace complex in Colombo on Saturday. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has not said anything about Rajapaksa’s whereabouts. (AFP/Getty Images) Months of protests have nearly dismantled the Rajapaksa political dynasty that has ruled Sri Lanka for most of the past two decades. One of Rajapaksa’s brothers resigned as prime minister last month, and two other brothers and a nephew resigned earlier from cabinet posts. Last month, Wickremesinghe said the country’s economy had collapsed. The government’s negotiations with the IMF have been complicated because it has now entered the negotiations as a bankrupt state. In April, Sri Lanka announced it was suspending foreign loan repayments due to a shortage of foreign currency. Its total foreign debt stands at US$51 billion, of which it must repay US$28 billion by the end of 2027. Police imposed a curfew in Colombo and several other major urban areas on Friday night, but lifted it on Saturday morning amid objections from lawyers and opposition politicians, who called it illegal. US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Julie Chung on Friday called on people to protest peacefully and called on the military and police to “give peaceful protesters the space and safety to do so”. “Chaos and force will not fix the economy or bring the political stability that Sri Lankans need right now,” Chung tweeted. Police use tear gas to disperse protesters taking part in an anti-government demonstration calling for the resignation of Sri Lanka’s president. (AFP/Getty Images) The economic crisis has led to severe shortages of essential items such as fuel, cooking gas and medicine, forcing people to stand in long queues to buy the limited supplies. Months of protests have nearly dismantled the Rajapaksa political dynasty that has ruled Sri Lanka for most of the past two decades. One of Rajapaksa’s brothers resigned as prime minister last month, and two other brothers and a nephew resigned earlier from cabinet posts.
