KABUL (Pajhwok): After months of protests and political tension, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has agreed to resign, according to a media report on Sunday.
The resignation comes after a dramatic day during which his house and offices were stormed by protesters and the home of the prime minister set on fire, a report in the Guardian said.
In a late-night message conveyed through the parliamentary speaker, Mahinda Yapa, the beleaguered president said he would step down from power on 13 July to “ensure a peaceful transition of power”.
It was a historic victory for the protesters who have been calling for him to resign for months and gathered on the streets of Colombo in tens of thousands on Saturday, as the country continues to struggle through its worst economic crisis since independence.
Ealier prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, had told a meeting of party leaders that he too would resign as soon as a new all-party government was formed.
In extraordinary scenes on Saturday, protesters broke through police barriers and charged into the president’s official residence. Images and witness accounts showed people flooding up the grand staircase of the colonial-era building, with chants calling for the president to go.
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