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COLOMBO: Sri Lankan President president Gotabaya Rajapaksa has resigned from his designation after fleeing the country.
According to international media, the ousted Sri Lankan President, who fled from Sri Lanka to the Maldives and then to Singapore, has resigned. News of his resignation drew thousands of protesters.
It is to be noted that for the last several days in Sri Lanka, there has been a demand for the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. He had fled the country after angry protesters stormed the presidential palace.
Gotabaya Rajapaksasent his resignation via e-mail to the Speaker of Parliament after fleeing Singapore during anti-government protests. He resigned from abroad to avoid arrest.
After the worst economic crisis in Sri Lanka, protests and demonstrations against the ruling elite continue and the people are facing severe shortage of load shedding, fuel, food, medicine and other basic necessities for the last several months due to the severe economic crisis.
As Sri Lankans awoke to the news of Mr Rajapaksa’s departure, thousands of people took to the streets of the capital, Colombo. Many gathered at Galle Face Green, the city’s main protest site. Some listened to fiery speeches at a makeshift stage set up for ordinary people to take the mic.
Punctuated by cries of “Victory to the struggle”, the rallying cry of the protest movement, speakers railed against a government and the leaders they feel have failed them. Police fired tear gas to disperse a group of protesters near the prime minister’s office, but they managed to storm the office and other state buildings.
In an earlier televised address, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe said he had ordered the military to do “whatever is necessary to restore order”. “We can’t tear up our constitution. We can’t allow fascists to take over. We must end this fascist threat to democracy,” he said. But many protesters say they will continue their demonstrations until both leaders have resigned from the government. Some demonstrators were furious about Mr Rajapaksa’s departure, seeing a lack of accountability.