Leaders of Sri Lanka's protest movement said on Sunday 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.
descended on Colombo on Saturday demanding for the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa after months of protests.
Rajapaksa will quit on 13 July, 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. "I've never seen a place like this in my life," 61-year-old handkerchief seller B.M. Chandrawathi, accompanied by her daughter and grandchildren, told Reuters as she tried out a plush sofa in a first-floor bedroom.
The financial meltdown developed after the Covid-19 pandemic hammered the tourism-reliant economy and slashed remittances from overseas workers. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said any government in power would have to"work quickly to try to identify and implement solutions that will bring back the prospect of long-term economic stability, address the Sri Lankan people's discontent, which is so powerful and palpable".
The International Monetary Fund , which has been in talks with the government for a possible $3 billion bailout, also said it was monitoring events closely."We hope for a resolution of the current situation that will allow for resumption of our dialogue on an IMF-supported programme," the global lender said in a statement.Rajapaksa has not been seen in public since Friday has not directly said anything about resigning.
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