Europe 1 with AFP
modified to
8:10 p.m., July 09, 2022
In Sri Lanka, the situation continues to be tense between the population and the president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa. This Saturday, demonstrators stormed the residence of the latter, to demand his resignation. As a result, the leader will leave his post on July 13, according to the speaker of parliament.
Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled his official residence in Colombo on Saturday minutes before it was stormed by protesters demanding his resignation, a defense source told AFP. “The president has been escorted to a safe place,” the source said. “He is still the president, he is protected by a military unit,” she added, as the flames began to ravage her palace.
Later in the day, the speaker of parliament, Mahinda Abeywardana, announced that the head of state would step down next week. “To ensure a peaceful transition, the president said he was going to step down on July 13,” he said on television.
Local television channels showed images of hundreds of people climbing the gates of the presidential palace in the heart of the capital. Tens of thousands of people had earlier taken part in a demonstration to demand the resignation of Gotabaya Rajapaksa, held responsible for the unprecedented economic crisis which is hitting Sri Lanka and causing galloping inflation and severe shortages of fuel, electricity and electricity. ‘food.
Curfew imposed on Friday
Security forces had imposed a curfew on Friday to try to discourage protesters from taking to the streets, but the measure was lifted after opposition parties, human rights activists and the country’s bar association threatened to sue the chief of police.
The curfew had been largely ignored by protesters anyway, some of whom even forced rail authorities to take them by train to Colombo on Saturday to take part in the rally, officials told AFP.