Sri Lankan President Resigns After Protesters Invade His House And Swim In His Pool
Topics: News, World News
Joe Harker
Featured Image Credit: @GeorgeAnagli/Twitter/Alamy
Topics: News, World News
Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa has announced he will resign on Wednesday, July 13, after protesters invaded his house and swam in his pool.
The island nation is in deep economic crisis, leaving many people unable to easily access food, fuel and medicine for months due to shortages.
Sick of the crisis and demanding the resignation of President Rajapaksa, protesters have stormed his official residence and had a swim in his pool, saying they're going to stay there until he resigns.
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The Sri Lankan president was moved to the safety of a naval vessel before protesters broke into the presidential palace, Sky News reports.
Protesters also called for the exit of Sri Lankan prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, setting his house on fire on Saturday, July 9.
Both politicians have said they will step down, but protesters have said they don't believe it and won't leave until the pair are officially out of office.
Many protesters have taken their children into the presidential house to show them around, and many kids have nowhere else to go as the schools have been shut due to a lack of electricity.
The crisis in Sri Lanka is very serious, as the country has run out of foreign currency and does not have the money to afford enough food, medicine and fuel to keep the country going.
Public servants have been told to stay at home and grow food rather than try and come into work, particularly as many important government buildings are currently occupied by protesters.
They have also been told they can go and work in another country for five years if they send the money they make back to Sri Lanka, and their job will still be waiting for them when they get back.
According to BBC News, other Sri Lankan politicians have met to discuss how to have a peaceful transition of power once president Rajapaksa resigns.
The current suggestion is to form a cross-party coalition at most a week after the president resigns, provided he actually does.
A huge reason behind the crisis is because inflation is running at more than 50%, spiking prices to incredibly high levels and putting many basic necessities out of reach of the Sri Lankan people.
With the country's reserves of foreign cash all but exhausted it cannot afford to buy goods from other nations either.
The Sri Lankan government has blamed the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic which has wiped out the nation's tourism industry.
However, economic experts argue that financial mismanagement is a major reason behind the crisis, blaming the government for major tax cuts and failing to find foreign markets for the nation's pr
Right now, all eyes in Sri Lanka are on the president and prime minister, to see if they will honour their promises to resign, otherwise protesters will continue to invade the house and swim in the pool.
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