COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – When a mob demanded Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s resignation and protesters stormed the gates of his office on Wednesday, security forces fired tear gas and a military helicopter flew. ring on the head.
Earlier, when protesters marched near the prime minister’s office, security forces tried to disperse the crowd with tear gas, but they did not budge and gathered with another group. Riot police officers, many wearing gas masks and wielding rifles, stood near air and ground forces without joining the crowd.
“We don’t want the robber Ranil, the bank thief, the deal thief!” the crowd chanted.
Hundreds of marchers set out from the presidential office in the morning, including families with young children. Their numbers were bolstered overnight by crowds arriving in the capital Colombo from all over Sri Lanka.
When the day begins outside the presidential office, the atmosphere is generally peaceful, with an air of celebration. People are excited by the news that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has fled to neighboring Maldives.
“The thieves are on the run,” said Sanjayra Perera, a university librarian who was among the thousands who have come to Colombo. She took her two children, aged 12 and 10, on Wednesday morning by train from Gampaha, western city.
She said that she wanted her family to be in the capital when the Rajapaksa family dynasty fell.
“This is our country,” she said. “We won.”
Crowds found patches of shade under the statues, sat on the wall of a seaside park and waited in line, holding umbrellas for a chance to see the historic office building, one of three. government house that the protesters have taken over. last weekend.
Despite the uncertainty over whether Mr Rajapaksa will step down on Wednesday, as the Speaker of Parliament has said he will and who can replace him, protesters are confident that the time is right. the end is near.
“This is a historic day for us,” said Randika Sandaruwan, 26, who took the train Tuesday night with nine friends from the nearby city of Negombo. “We needed to get rid of our president, and now Gota is gone,” he said, using the nickname for the president.
Mr. Sandaruwan and his friends, like many protesters, did nothing to protect them from tear gas.
Shameen Opanayake, 22, sat on the front steps with her mother and two sisters. They caught an early bus from their home in Kalutara, south of the capital.
“If he hadn’t resigned today,” he said, referring to the president, “I don’t think this place would be quiet. The whole country is rejecting him.”
