Sri Lanka's opposition political parties were meeting Sunday to agree on a new government a day after the country's president and prime minister offered to resign in the most dramatic day of monthslong political turmoil, with protesters storming both leaders' homes and setting fire to one of the buildings in a rage over the economic crisis.
Protesters remained in President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's home, his seaside office and the prime minister's residence, saying they will stay until they officially resign. Soldiers were deployed around the city and Chief of Defense Staff Shavendra Silva called for public support to maintain law and order.
Rajapaksa appeared to have vacated his residence before it was stormed, and government spokesperson Mohan Samaranayake said he had no information about his movements. A statement from the president's office Sunday said that Rajapaksa ordered officials to start immediate distribution of a cooking gas consignment, suggested that he was still at work.
Rajapaksa appointed Wickremesinghe as prime minister in May in an effort to solve the shortages and start economic recovery. "This kind of unrest could create confusion among international organizations like the IMF and the World Bank," political analyst Ranga Kalansooriya said, adding that a new administration should agree on a common program for economic recovery.
Thousands of protesters entered the capital Colombo on Saturday and swarmed into Rajapaksa's fortified residence. Crowds of people splashed in the garden pool, lounged on beds and used their cellphone cameras to capture the moment. Some made tea or used the gym while others issued statements from a conference room demanding that the president and prime minister go.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Washington was tracking the developments in Sri Lanka and urged Parliament to work quickly to implement solutions and address people's discontent.
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