Ranil Wickremesinghe who the new Sri Lanka’s acting President, has declared a state of emergency and imposed a curfew in the country to control a fresh wave of protests in Colombo.
Wickremesinghe, who had made this announcement in a recorded message broadcast on television on Wednesday, said that the directive was given after intelligence reports that protesters were storming parliament, the prime minister’s office, and the residences of service commanders.
His media secretary, Dinouk Colombage also confirmed the news of the curfew to Reuters.
He said, “The prime minister as acting president has declared a state of emergency (countrywide) and imposed a curfew in the western province.”
Wickremesinghe was sworn in as Sri Lanka’s acting President after Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country to the Maldives earlier in the day after protests. Wickremesinghe, 73, had been serving as prime minister.
His statement came as over 3,000 people, most of them university students, continued protesting near the prime minister’s office with some of them storming the building.
However, a large number of troops had been deployed around the area and were trying to drive the protesters away by using tear gas.
It had been previously reported that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa of Sri Lanka had been declared missing as thousands of protesters stormed his official residence in Sri Lanka.
On Saturday, thousands of protesters had stormed his State home as they continued their demand for his resignation.
The President was hurriedly transported to the Army headquarters hours before the invasion.
Sri Lankan military personnel had also joined the demonstrators who broke police barricades and entered. Dozens, including two police officers, are injured and receiving treatment, the National Hospital of Sri Lanka (NHSL) confirmed.
The citizens have been complaining about poverty, cost of living and Rajapaksa’s handling of the economic crisis.
The people are struggling to get jobs, pay rent, buy food, medicine, petroleum products, among others.
Videos and photos showing protesters breaking in and swimming in the President’s house have emerged. Some were cooking food in the kitchen as others moved about for a tour of the presidential residence.
With a population of 22 million, the South Asian nation faces its worst financial crisis in decades. At least 16 members of parliament from Rajapaksa’s party Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna have asked him to resign.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has summoned an emergency meeting of party leaders.