Author: Phlippages
Angry Sri Lankan citizens stormed the president’s official residence and his secretariat on Saturday amid months of mounting public anger over the country’s worst economic crisis in seven decades.
They also broke open the gates of the sea-front presidential secretariat and the finance ministry, which has been the site of a sit-in protest for months.
Security personnel at both locations were unable to hold back the crowd, as they chanted slogans asking President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to step down.
Two defense ministry sources said President Rajapaksa had already been removed from the official residence on Friday for his safety ahead of the planned rally over the weekend.
Office of the Prime Minister revealed in a statement that the prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Saturday summoned an emergency party leaders meeting to discuss the situation and come to a swift resolution. He also requested the speaker to summon parliament.
Wickremesinghe has also been moved to a secure location, a government source said.
A Facebook Livestream showed hundreds of protesters, some draped in the National flags, packing into rooms and corridors, shouting slogan’s against the President.
Video footage of protesters standing and some bathing in the swimming pool inside the president’s home was widely circulated on social media websites.
Atleast 39 people including two police officials were injured and hospitalised in the process.
