Sri Lanka Crisis: Last remaining Rajapaksa announces resignation

World

Gotabaya Rajapaksa, President of Sri Lanka agreed to resign on Saturday, only hours after tens of thousands of demonstrators surrounded his official house in Colombo, forcing him to leave to an unidentified location.

In a press conference on Saturday, Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena stated that Rajapaksa had told him that his resignation from the presidency will take effect on July 13. Yesterday, thousands of protesters shook Colombo. Around Rajapaksa’s home, crowds tore through the barriers, clambered over the fence, and gained possession of the area.

Dramatic footage from outside Rajapakse’s home showed a sea of protesters assaulting the grounds, knocking down police-erected security barriers, splashing in the pool, and romping through his kitchen and house.

Here are a few images that perfectly capture the mayhem in Sri Lanka:

Following President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s flight, protesters gather inside the grounds of the President’s House.

After President Gotabaya Rajapaksa left his residence, a protester entered the President’s House and posed for a picture.

During a rally demanding the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, a protester fires a tear gas grenade back at police officers as police deploy tear gas and water cannon to disperse the crowd close to the president’s mansion.

Later police deploy water cannons to scatter protesters seeking the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa close to the presidential mansion.

Following the deployment of tear gas by riot police to disperse protesters during a demonstration calling for the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, a protester takes an injured woman close to the presidential mansion.

After President Gotabaya Rajapaksa left, protesters gathered inside the Presidential Secretariat building.