Sri Lankan protest  locations are calm as the president’s resignation is awaited

• Thursday was peaceful in Sri Lanka’s capital city of Colombo as residents awaited President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s resignation.
• Rajapaksa had fled to the Maldives to avoid a popular rebellion that broke out as the nation battles an economic crisis.
• More protests followed his decision on Wednesday to name his ally, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, as interim president.

Thursday was peaceful in Sri Lanka’s capital city of Colombo as residents awaited President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s resignation. Rajapaksa had fled to the Maldives to avoid a popular rebellion that broke out as the nation battles an economic crisis.

Rajapaksa was anticipated to travel to Singapore, however it was unclear where he would end up. More protests followed his decision on Wednesday to name his ally, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, as interim president. Protesters stormed parliament and the premier’s office, demanding that he resign as well.

Rajapaksa had frequently promised to retire as speaker of the house on Wednesday, but as of early Thursday, his resignation letter had still not been delivered, according to an aide to Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena.

In battles between riot police and protestors on Wednesday near the parliament building and the prime minister’s office, authorities reported one fatality and 84 injuries. Protesters were calling for the removal of both Rajapaksa and Wickremesinghe.

According to police spokeswoman Nalin Thalduwa, the deceased was a 26-year-old demonstrator who passed away after being hurt close to the prime minister’s office.

The economic crisis has been the subject of months-long protests, which reached a boiling point last weekend when hundreds of thousands of people occupied government buildings in Colombo and accused the wealthy Rajapaksa family and its allies of being to blame for rampant inflation, shortages, and corruption.

On Thursday morning, the area surrounding the parliament was desolate. On the approach road, police were manning a roadblock. Nearby, life resumed as usual, with businesses open and a large number of vehicles on the road.

A hundred or more demonstrators congregated at that intersection the previous evening, and ambulances frequently transported the injured away from the scene.

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