Sri Lanka PM Wickremesinghe resigns, makes way for all-party govt

Violent clashes broke out in Sri Lanka on Saturday with police using tear gas shells to disperse the protestors

Ranil Wickremesinghe on Saturday has resigned as Sri Lankan prime minister to make way for an all-party government to take over, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said.

According to the media reports, protesters broke into the private residence of Wickremesinghe on Saturday evening and set it on fire.

When this government resigns, it is essential that another government be ready to immediately assume duties to ensure stability, the PMO said, adding that the new governament must ensured that economic recovery, such as discussions with International Monetary Fund, are not hindered.

Earlier in the day, thousands of protesters stormed President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's residence in Colombo, demanding his government's resignation amid the ongoing economic crisis. Soon after, Wickremesinghe summoned an emergency meeting with political party leaders to discuss the situation.

Meanwhile, 16 MPs of President Rajapaksa's Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) party in a letter requested him to resign immediately and make way for a leader who could command the majority in Parliament to lead the country.

They stated that Rajapaksa should give an opportunity to a mature leader without corruption allegations to take over the country.

On Saturday morning, violent clashes broke out, with police using tear gas shells to disperse the protestors. According to local media reports, over 40 people have been hospitalised, with three critically injured.

Anti-government protesters also surrounded another residence of the President in Kandy, as well as the ancestral house of former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa in the southern city of Tangalle.

With the mounting crisis and tension in the country, schools have been closed until July 18.

In the wake of the island nation's worst economic crisis since it gained independence in 1948, people have been protesting against President Rajapaksa and his government, asking him to step down.

The island nation of 22 million people has witnessed its foreign exchange reserves shrink due to economic mismanagement and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.