'Missing' Gotabaya orders supply of LPG; protesters refuse to budge

Agitators find LKR 17.8 mn in cash at Prez House

Embattled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, whose location is still unknown since the protesters overran both his office and the official residence, has ordered officials to ensure the smooth distribution of cooking gas after the fuel-starved country received 3,700 million tonnes of LP gas, his office said on Sunday.

In recent months people have been blocking roads across the country in a desperate bid to force the government to address the issue of acute gas shortages.

People cook in the garden of the Prime Minister’s residence on the day after demonstrators entered the building.

The move came after leaders of Sri Lanka’s protest movement said they would occupy the residences of the president and prime minister until they finally quit office, the day after the two men agreed to resign leaving the country in political limbo.

Thousands of protesters stormed President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s home and office and the prime minister’s official residence on Saturday, as demonstrations over their inability to overcome a devastating economic crisis erupted into violence.

The anti-government protesters in Sri Lanka who stormed embattled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s official residence have claimed to have recovered Rs 17.85 million in Lankan currency inside his mansion.

Rajapaksa will quit on July 13, while Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe also said he would step down to allow an all-party interim government to take over, according to the speaker of parliament.

A man takes selfies inside the Presidential palace gym.

All-party meet

Sri Lanka’s Opposition parties on Sunday decided to form an all-party interim government after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe agreed to resign in the wake of unprecedented street protests during which both leaders’ houses were stormed by irate protesters over the government’s mishandling of the nation’s worst economic crisis.

Opposition parties on Sunday held talks to seek ways to steer the country forward amidst the unprecedented economic crisis after President Rajapaksa on Saturday informed Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena from an undisclosed location that he will step down on Wednesday.

Demonstrators sleep on President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s bed.

The Chinese concern 
 

China, which has invested billions of dollars in Sri Lanka, has warned hundreds of its nationals in the country not to participate in any protests there, as it watched warily the fast unfolding crisis in the island nation where large masses of people raided the President’s palace and burnt the Prime Minister’s residence.

The Chinese Embassy in Colombo issued a notice on Saturday, reminding Chinese nationals in Sri Lanka to pay close attention to the local security situation and abide by local laws and regulations after the protests spread, state-run Global Times here reported.

It asked Chinese nationals not to participate in any protests, the report said.