Colombo, Sri Lanka- Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, has resigned following massive protests that broke out earlier on Saturday.
Thousands of protesters broke through police barricades and stormed President Gotabaya Rajapaksa‘s official residence demanding his resignation.
As a result, at least 42 people were injured in the clashes with security forces, after the police used tear gas and water cannons against protesters and fired shots into the air to try to disperse them.
However, the President was not at the residence and is believed to be at an undisclosed location in the country.
Due to the mayhem, the Prime Minister then announced his resignation and stated that he is paving way for a new government to be formed.
“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,” said Wickremesinghe.
Tens of thousands have taken to the streets in recent months, calling for the country’s leaders to resign over accusations of economic mismanagement.
Sri Lanka has run out of foreign-exchange reserves for imports of essential items like fuel and medicine.
Hundreds are now forced to queue for long hours to buy fuel, sometimes clashing with police and the military as they wait.
In addition, schools have been suspended and fuel has been limited to essential services. Patients are unable to travel to hospitals due to the fuel shortage and food prices are soaring. Trains have reduced in frequency, forcing travelers to squeeze into compartments and even sit precariously on top of them as they commute to work.
The United Nations (UN) has warned that more than a quarter of Sri Lanka’s 22 million people are at risk of food shortages.
