Sri Lanka's prime minister agrees to resign after protests and riots

Prime Minister Ranil Wickreminghe said in a voice statement that he would resign when all sides have agreed to a new government.

There is a fuel crisis in this country today, food shortages, the head of the World Food Programme that comes here, and we have some issues to discuss with the IMF. Therefore, if this government leaves, there must be another government”, he said.

His decision came after the biggest protest so far involving Sri Lanka after tens of thousands of people penetrated the barricades and entered the residence of President Gotabaya Rajapasa and the nearby office to vent their anger against a leader they consider responsible for the country's crisis, writes the AP, records Klakosoval. tv

Wickremesinghe said he suggested the president have an entire party government, but said nothing about Rajapaksa's whereabouts. Opposition parties in parliament were discussing forming a new government.

Rajapapasa appointed Wickreminghe as prime minister in May in hopes that the politician would use diplomacy and his contacts to revive a ruined economy. But people's patience waned after the lack of fuel, medicine, and gas only increased, and oil reserves ran out.

Many protesters accuse Wickremsinghe of trying to save Rajapaxa when pressured to resign, as each other member of his powerful political dynasty had left the cabinet.

Sri Lanka's economy is in a state of collapse, relying on assistance from India and other countries, while its leaders try to negotiate a bailout with the International Monetary Fund.

The riots have led to months of protests, which have almost dismantled the Rajapapasa political dynasty that has dominated Sri Lanka for the last couple of decades.