SRI LANKA HOPES TO INSTALL NEW GOV’T AFTER DAY OF CHAOS AND RAGE
Al Jazeera - 10 July 2022
There is calm on the streets of Sri Lanka, a day after protesters stormed the president’s residence and set fire to the prime minister’s house, forcing both the leaders to announce their resignations over a worsening economic crisis in the country.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is expected to quit on Wednesday, marking a dramatic end to the powerful clan’s hold over Sri Lankan politics for more than two decades.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who assumed the post only two months ago, also offered to resign to allow an all-party interim government to take over.
Rajapaksa, 73, has urged people to allow a peaceful transition of power, which he plans to supervise before quitting office.
A meeting of the leaders of the political parties is scheduled on Sunday, with opposition politicians claiming they have the parliamentary majority to form an interim government.
“We need a change. This is not the way we deserve to live. The leaders are responsible for what has happened to this country,” K Chandra, a demonstrator, told Al Jazeera.
Following the resignations of the president and the prime minister, Parliament’s Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena is expected to take over as acting president as per Sri Lanka’s constitution.
On Sunday morning, many protesters were still camping in the president’s official residence. They cooked food, played the piano, and even enjoyed games of card and carrom in the house.
Local residents toured the premises. A woman who came with her two teenage daughters told Al Jazeera she wanted to see how the presidents lived. “We have not seen what their lifestyle was like. I wanted to see for myself,” she said.
