By
Meera Srinivasan
Political parties in Sri Lanka are scrambling to form an all-party government, a day after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe pledged to resign in the wake of a historic citizens’ protest.
Sri Lankans are living through a harrowing economic collapse, where anti-government protests persisted for three months over the government’s failure to address or arrest the long-simmering crisis
In a culmination of people’s agitations spanning months, massive crowds on Saturday thronged Colombo’s seafront, where anti-government protests persisted for three months over the government’s failure to arrest or address the long-simmering crisis.
Demonstrators stormed the Presidential palace, Secretariat, and the official residence of the Prime Minister, and occupied the country’s seats of power, in a rare display of public fury. Arsonists also torched Mr. Wickremesinghe’s private home.
The escalation of citizens’ anger pushed the top two leaders to agree to step down, although neither has formally handed in his resignation. Mr. Gotabaya has informed the Speaker that he would step down on July 13.