Sri Lanka protesters to leave official buildings
Sri Lanka's anti-government demonstrators said on Thursday they were ending their occupation of official buildings, as they vowed to press on with their bid to bring down the president and prime minister in the face of a dire economic crisis. Protesters overran President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's palace at the weekend, forcing him to flee to the Maldives on Wednesday, when activists also stormed the office of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. Rajapaksa had promised to resign on Wednesday, but there was no announcement he had done so. The premier, whom Rajapaksa named as acting president in his absence, had demanded the evacuation of state buildings and instructed security forces to do "what is necessary to restore order". "We are peacefully withdrawing from the Presidential Palace, the Presidential Secretariat and the Prime Minister's Office with immediate effect, but will continue our struggle," a spokeswoman for the protesters said. Hundreds of thousands have visited the compound since it was opened out to the public after Rajapaksa fled and his security guards backed down. In a televised address after thousands of people captured his office in Colombo, Wickremesinghe declared: "Those who go to my office want to stop me from discharging my responsibilities as acting president … We can't allow fascists to take over.” Rajapaksa left the Maldives on Thursday aboard a Saudi airline plane bound for Singapore, an airport official has said, a day after he escaped to the atoll nation. He, his wife Ioma and their two bodyguards were escorted to the aircraft minutes before it took off from Velana International airport in Male, the official said. Local media reports said Rajapaksa had refused to take a commercial flight after receiving a hostile reception when he arrived in the Maldives early on Wednesday. He was jeered and insults thrown at him as he walked out of airport. Maldivian media reported that he had spent the night at the Waldorf Astoria Ithaafushi super luxury resort. They contrasted the opulent accommodation with the economic plight of his compatriots – four out of five Sri Lankans skipping meals because of the country's dire economic crisis. (AFP)______________________________
Last updated: 2022-07-14 HKT 16:20 