Sri Lanka prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told political leaders he is willing to step down and make way for a new government.
Mr Wickremesinghe was taking this decision as fuel distribution will recommence and the debt sustainability report for the International Monetary Fund was due to be finalised shortly, according to a statement from his media office.
His decision comes after party leaders met in Colombo to try to resolve a crisis that started earlier Saturday with protesters entering the official residence and offices of president Gotabaya Rajapaksa. They were demanding the president’s resignation.
Mr Rajapaksa left his official residence at about 10am local time, his secretary Gamini Senarath said over the phone, adding that he could not contact the leader currently and didn’t know his whereabouts.
Footage filmed on mobile phones showed a large number of people inside the well-fortified house and on the grounds outside.
Meanwhile, thousands of people took to the streets of the capital Colombo decrying the nation’s worst economic crisis in recent memory.
Police had earlier fired tear gas at protesters who surrounded the residence as they moved towards the main gates. The protesters eventually broke the barricades and entered the house.
Protesters blame Mr Rajapaksa for the economic woes and have occupied the entrance to his office for three months.
Local media reported that Mr Rajapaksa had informed Wickremesinghe that he would respect the decision taken at the party leaders’ meeting.
A group of lawmakers from the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna have written to Mr Rajapaksa to step aside and provide an opportunity for another leader to take over with a clear parliament majority, the party’s general secretary Sagara Kariyawasam said. Local media reported at least 16 lawmakers had signed the letter.
Sri Lanka’s prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said last month that the country’s economy has collapsed. The government’s negotiations with the International Monetary Fund have been complex because it has now entered talks as a bankrupt state.
In April, Sri Lanka announced it is suspending repaying foreign loans due to a foreign currency shortage. Its total foreign debt amounts to €50 billion ($51 billion), of which it must repay €27 billion ($28 billion) by the end of 2027.
Police imposed a curfew in Colombo and several other main urban areas on Friday night but withdrew it on Saturday morning amid objections by lawyers and opposition politicians who called it illegal.
Riot police and army personnel are deployed in the city, and the area surrounding the president’s official residence is heavily barricaded.
US ambassador to Sri Lanka Julie Chung on Friday asked people to protest peacefully and called for the military and police “to grant peaceful protesters the space and security to do so”.
She said in a tweet: “Chaos & force will not fix the economy or bring the political stability that Sri Lankans need right now.”
The economic crisis has led to a heavy shortage of essentials like fuel, cooking gas and medicines, forcing people to stand in long queues to buy the limited supplies.
Months of protests have nearly dismantled the Rajapaksa political dynasty that has ruled Sri Lanka for most of the past two decades.
One of Mr Rajapaksa’s brothers resigned as prime minister last month, and two other brothers and a nephew quit their cabinet posts earlier, but Mr Rajapaksa has held on to power.
Mr Wickremesinghe took over as prime minister in May and protests temporarily waned in the hope he could find cash for the country’s urgent needs, but people now want him to resign saying he has failed to fulfil his promises.
