Sri Lanka: Protesters attack the Prime Minister’s offices

Thousands of protesters stormed the offices of Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe today, hours after he was appointed as interim president, witnesses said.

The crowd overwhelmed the forces of order and entered the building, in order to raise national flags, while the police and the army tried to push them back by using tear gas and water cannons.

Earlier, the speaker of the House had announced the appointment by the head of state Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled to the Maldives, of Wickremesinghe as interim president.

In a televised address, Wickremasinghe asked the army and police to restore order, but the soldiers were retreating and leaving the doors of the building open to protesters.

“I have ordered the military commanders and the police chief to do whatever it takes to restore order,” the prime minister said.

The protesters “want to prevent me from fulfilling my duties as interim president,” he added. “We cannot allow fascists to take power.”

“We cannot tear up our Constitution. We cannot allow fascists to seize power. We must put an end to this threat to democracy,” he said, adding that public buildings seized by protesters must be handed over to the state. .

Earlier today, the government declared a state of emergency and police imposed a curfew in the province that includes the capital Colombo.

But this did not prevent thousands of protesters from gathering in front of the prime minister’s offices.

In addition, protesters blocked the operation of the main public television network.

An unknown man broke into the studio of the Rupavahini network during a live broadcast and ordered that only news related to the protests be broadcast. The broadcast of the show was interrupted and a taped program was broadcast in its place.

Sri Lankan President Gotombaya Rajapaksa had promised last weekend that he would resign today.

Source: RES-MPE