Protesters leave occupied government buildings

The population is still waiting for the letter of resignation from President Rajapaksa, who is now fleeing to Singapore. Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith: “We are waiting to see if the president keeps his promise.”

Colombo () – This morning the activists restored the government buildings that had been occupied in recent days. At the head of the executive is now former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe, who yesterday imposed a curfew and asked the army to “restore order.” During the clashes, the police used tear gas and water cannons against the population, who also demanded Wickremasinghe’s resignation. At least 84 people were injured and one died.

“We are peacefully withdrawing from the Presidential Palace, the Presidential Secretariat and the Prime Minister’s Office with immediate effect, but we will continue our fight,” Father Jeevantha Peiris told the media. “We have taken this decision as a measure to protect peace in the country following the statements of the President of Parliament.”

The Archbishop of Colombo, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, called on the country’s leaders to leave their positions in the course of this week: “We are all anxiously waiting to see if he, the president, keeps his promise to step down,” said Cardinal in an interview with the website cross. “We are skeptical of our political leaders and their promises,” Ranjith added. And supporting the protesters, he said: “It was good that people took to the streets.” Addressing the security forces, the cardinal asked them to understand the demands of the population, which are reasonable, to resolve the crisis peacefully.

As for the Sri Lankan president, after fleeing with his wife to the Maldives, Gotabaya Rajapaksa is now heading to Singapore. It is believed that he fled the country to avoid arrest by the new administration. Rajapaksa, who enjoyed presidential immunity, is accused of war crimes against the Tamil population, committed during the civil war, when he was serving as defense minister. At the moment it is not clear if he will remain in the city-state (and, if so, for how long) or if he will be heading to another destination.

The now ex-president has not yet sent his resignation letter, as the president of Parliament, Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, had announced on July 9. On the same day, protesters stormed the presidential palace in the capital, Colombo, after months of protests under the banner “GotaGoHome”.

The president’s resignation letter would allow Sri Lanka to launch a succession plan. In this way, an interim president would take over who would govern the country for a maximum of 30 days before parliamentarians meet to elect a new leader. In the last days, Abeywardena had announced that new elections would be held on July 20, after a first consultation with the deputies on July 15. This morning, the Speaker of Parliament said that a government will be elected even if Rajapaksa does not formally resign from him.

For months, the population demonstrated in Colombo and other towns to protest the high cost of living and the economic crisis. In April, Sri Lanka defaulted, declaring its insolvency to meet the payment of a debt amounting to more than 50,000 million dollars. The country has not been able to import fuel for months and inflation has already exceeded 54%, preventing citizens from buying basic necessities, especially food and medicine.