Demonstrators and government supporters clash outside the residence of Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister
Colombo:
Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned as his loyalists went on rampage today, injuring more than 100 anti-government protesters in Colombo. A ruling party MP was killed in the clashes, many were hospitalised.
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MP Amarakeerthi Athukorala opened fire and critically wounded two people blocking his car in Nittambuwa, and was later found dead after trying to take refuge in a nearby building, officers said.
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Mr Rajapaksa, 76, had sent his letter of resignation to his younger brother, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, clearing the way for a “new unity government”.
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“I am resigning with immediate effect so that you will be able to appoint an all-party government to guide the country out of the current economic crisis,” the Prime Minister said in the letter, reported news agency AFP.
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The cabinet now stands dissolved. The largest opposition party has refused to join any government headed by a member of the Rajapaksa clan.
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The biggest clashes since the economic crisis hit the island nation started this morning when supporters of the Rajapaksa family went on the rampage.
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The loyalists had attacked unarmed protesters camping outside the President’s office in downtown Colombo since April 9.
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In a first, the riot squad was called in to reinforce the police. Earlier, soldiers were pressed into service to protect deliveries of fuel and other essentials but never to prevent clashes.
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At least 100 injured people have been hospitalised, police sources have said.
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The police fired tear gas shells and water cannon and declared an immediate curfew in Colombo, which was later widened to span the country of 22 millon people.
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Sri Lanka has suffered months of blackouts and dire shortages of food, fuel and medicines in its worst economic crisis since independence, sparking weeks of overwhelmingly peaceful anti-government demonstrations.
