Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to step down on July 13

The Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, Ranil Wickremesinghe, had his home burned down, and demonstrators broke into his property before forcing him to resign.

Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana, the speaker of Sri Lanka’s parliamentary assembly, has stated that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has consented to resign from his position within the next week.

The decision was made a few hours after demonstrators took over the president’s official mansion in order to voice their outrage over the tremendous economic situation the country is currently facing. Later, protesters broke into the mansion of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in the country’s capital city of Colombo and set fire to it.

Abeywardana made a statement on television that read, “To guarantee a smooth transition, the president indicated he will step down on July 13.”

Abeywardena has stated that Rajapaksa will continue to serve as president till Wednesday in order to facilitate a peaceful handover of power.

“I decided to step down on July 13 to make sure that the change of power would go smoothly,” he said.

So, he said, “I ask the public to follow the law and keep the peace.”

President Rajapaksa was moved out of the President’s House in the capital, Colombo, earlier in the day, before thousands of protesters stormed his home and demanded that he resign. This was one of the biggest marches against the government on the crisis-stricken island this year.

A livestream on Facebook from inside the president’s mansion showed hundreds of protestors pouring into rooms and corridors, shouting slogans against the 73-year-old leader who is under pressure.

On social media, footage of protestors standing and even bathing in the swimming pool inside the president’s mansion has gone viral. Some of the protesters were also seen swimming in the pool.

The gathering near the president’s mansion was unable to be contained by the military and the police, who were chanting chants demanding that Rajapaksa resign down from his position.