New Delhi: Protesters in Sri Lanka broke into the house of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and set it on fire on Saturday. This came a few hours after PM Wickremesinghe announced to give his resignation from the post. Earlier in the day, protestors also intruded on President Gotabaya Rajapaksha’s official residence, leading him to leave the house.
The video of the incident is also going viral on the internet. In the video, one can see a large fire behind a tree in a house.
Have a look at the video here:
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PM #RanilWickremesinghe house set on fire by protesters. #SriLanka #SriLankaCrisis #SriLankaProtests pic.twitter.com/kGEuD8flXI
— Marya Shakil (@maryashakil) July 9, 2022
Wickremesinghe announced the development on Twitter on Saturday evening and said he took the decision to resign on the recommendation of the party leaders.
”To ensure the continuation of the Government including the safety of all citizens I accept the best recommendation of the Party Leaders today, to make way for an All-Party Government. To facilitate this I will resign as Prime Minister,” wrote the former PM in his tweet.
To ensure the continuation of the Government including the safety of all citizens I accept the best recommendation of the Party Leaders today, to make way for an All-Party Government.
To facilitate this I will resign as Prime Minister.
— Ranil Wickremesinghe (@RW_UNP) July 9, 2022
According to Harsha de Silva, Sri Lankan MP, the party has decided that the Speaker act as President for a maximum of 30 days.
Notably, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled his official residence. However, he is currently on run and has yet not made any official statement on the protestors’ demand to submit his resignation.
