Sri Lanka Declares Emergency After Prez Rajapaksa Flees to Maldives; Tear Gas Shells Fired as Protestors Scale Wall to Enter PM's Home

Sri Lanka Declares Emergency After Prez Rajapaksa Flees to Maldives; Tear Gas Shells Fired as Protestors Scale Wall to Enter PM's Home

Sri Lanka Declares Emergency After Prez Rajapaksa Flees to Maldives; Tear Gas Shells Fired as Protestors Scale Wall to Enter PM's Home

PTI 

Colombo : Sri Lanka on Wednesday declared a state of emergency after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled to the Maldives on a military jet in the face of a public revolt against his government for “mishandling” the country's economy.

The Prime Minister’s office informed the media organisations that the state of emergency in the country and a curfew in the Western province had been imposed.

Meanwhile, protesters marched to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's office, urging him to resign after the news came in that President Rajapaksa had left for the Maldives.

They broke through a barricade despite teargas before storming the prime minister's office, demanding his resignation.

Wickremesinghe has already said he was willing to resign and make way for an all-party government to take over.

On Saturday, Rajapaksa had announced to step down on Wednesday after thousands of protesters stormed his official residence, blaming him for the unprecedented economic crisis that has brought the country to its knees.

Sri Lanka's political parties have stepped up efforts to form an all-party government and subsequently elect a new president on July 20 to prevent the bankrupt nation sliding further into anarchy.

Under the Sri Lankan Constitution, if both the president and prime minister resign, the Speaker of parliament will serve as acting president for a maximum of 30 days.

Parliament will elect a new president within 30 days from one of its members, who will hold the office for the remaining two years of the current term.