As Sri Lanka’s Rajapaksa agrees to step down, singing on streets – but an uncertain future

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has agreed to resign on July 13, the speaker of the country’s parliament announced late Saturday, following a tumultuous day that saw protesters break into Rajapaksa’s official residence in Colombo and splash around in his swimming pool.

The announcements — which protesters celebrated by singing on the streets and setting off fireworks — marked a historic victory for the protesters, who have been demanding Rajapaksa’s resignation for months over his government’s failure to address the country’s economic collapse.

After months of largely peaceful protests, anger reached tipping point on Saturday, as more than 100,000 people massed outside Rajapaksa’s residence, calling for his resignation.

Video broadcast on Sri Lankan television and on social media showed the protesters enter the President’s House — Rajapaksa’s office and residence — after breaking through security cordons. Images show demonstrators inside the whitewashed colonial-era building and hanging banners from the balcony.

Later on Saturday, live video streamed by local media and seen by CNN showed Wickremesinghe’s home engulfed in flames as crowds gathered around.

Neither the President nor Prime Minister were at their residences when the buildings were breached. Both had been moved to secure locations prior to the attacks, according to security officials.

Political uncertainty

Saturday’s drastic escalation of unrest could spell the end of the Rajapaksa family’s political dynasty, which has ruled Sri Lanka for most of the past two decades.

In a video statement late on Saturday, Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena said Rajapaksa’s decision to step down “was taken to ensure a peaceful handover of power.”

But how that transition of power will eventually play out is engulfed by uncertainty.

If both Wickremesinghe and Rajapaksa resign, under the Sri Lankan constitution, the speaker of parliament will serve as acting president for a maximum of 30 days. Meanwhile, parliament will elect a new president within 30 days from one of its members who will hold the office for the remaining two years of the current term.

“Now, all parties must work together with the international community for a new government that respects the democratic and economic aspirations and upholds human rights the Sri Lankan people deserve,” the committee said.

“The military and police must exercise restraint and be part of the solution, not part of the problem, in this crisis,” it added.

Journalists injured

At least 55 people have been injured in the protests, according to Dr. Pushpa Zoysa with the National Hospital of Sri Lanka, who said the figure included three people with gunshot wounds. Among those injured is a lawmaker from eastern Sri Lanka, she added.

A Sri Lankan television station said six of its journalists were attacked late Saturday by the Sri Lanka Police Special Task Force outside the Prime Minister’s private residence.

Two of the journalists from the Sri Lankan TV channel Newsfirst had their cameras rolling at the time. Video aired by Newsfirst shows two journalists being pushed to the ground by police during the confrontation. Fellow journalists who rushed to their aid were then also attacked, Newsfirst reported.

Inspector General of Sri Lanka Police CD Wickremaratne said the officers associated with the attacks were “suspended immediately,” according to an audio statement aired on national television.

Wickremesinghe, the Prime Minister, also condemned the attacks.

“Freedom of media is paramount to democracy in Sri Lanka,” he said, asking both security forces and protesters to “act with restraint to prevent any violence and ensure the safety of the public.”