Sri Lanka protesters to end occupation of official buildings

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka's anti-government demonstrators said Thursday (Jul 14) they were ending their occupation of official buildings, as they vowed to press on with their bid to bring down the president and prime minister in the face of a dire economic crisis.

Protesters overran President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's palace at the weekend, forcing him to flee to the Maldives on Wednesday, when activists also stormed the office of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Rajapaksa had promised to resign on Wednesday, but there was no announcement he had done so.

The prime minister, whom Rajapaksa named as acting president in his absence, has demanded the evacuation of state buildings and instructed security forces to do "what is necessary to restore order".

"We are peacefully withdrawing from the Presidential Palace, the Presidential Secretariat and the Prime Minister's Office with immediate effect, but will continue our struggle," a spokeswoman for the protesters said.

A top Buddhist monk supporting the campaign called for the more than 200-years-old presidential palace to be handed back to authorities and ensure its valuable art and artefacts were preserved.

"This building is a national treasure and it should be protected," monk Omalpe Sobitha told reporters. "There must be a proper audit and the property given back to the state."

Hundreds of thousands have visited the compound since it was opened out to the public after Rajapaksa fled and his security guards backed down.

In a televised address after thousands of people captured his office in Colombo, Wickremesinghe declared: "Those who go to my office want to stop me from discharging my responsibilities as acting president."

He added: "We can't allow fascists to take over. That is why I declared a nationwide emergency and a curfew."

The curfew was lifted at dawn on Thursday, but police said a soldier and a constable were injured in overnight clashes with protesters outside the national parliament.

The attempt on the legislature was beaten back, unlike at other locations where the protesters had spectacular success.

The main hospital in Colombo said about 85 people were admitted with injuries on Wednesday, with one man suffocating and dying after a tear gas attack at the prime minister's office.

Rajapaksa had repeatedly assured the speaker of parliament that he would step down on Wednesday, but his resignation letter had not arrived as of early Thursday, said an aide to Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena.

A government source told Reuters earlier that Rajapaksa was expected to head to Singapore though his final destination was not clear. However, Sri Lanka media reported on Thursday morning that he did not board his scheduled Singapore Airlines flight to Singapore.

He remained in the Maldives, reportedly awaiting a private jet to take him, his wife Ioma and two bodyguards to Singapore.

Diplomatic sources said Rajapaksa's attempts to secure a visa to the United States had been turned down because he had renounced his US citizenship in 2019 before running for president.

Sri Lanka's parliament is expected to name a new full-time president on Jul 20, and a top ruling party source told Reuters Wickremesinghe was the party's first choice, although no decision had been taken.

The opposition's choice is their main leader Sajith Premadasa, the son of a former president.