Lankan PM's house set on fire: Sri Lanka crisis top 10 updates

Colombo: Anti-government protesters on Saturday set fire to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's private residence in the heart of Colombo after his security attacked them. The protesters, who marched to Colombo on Saturday morning demanding resignation of President Gotobaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe, stormed the President's official residence, braving police, and later occupied the Prime Minister's official resident, the Temple Trees. Rajapaksa, as per the latest reports, will resign from the post on Wednesday, July 13.

Here are the top 10 updates in this big story:

1. The protesters marched to PM Wickremesinghe's private residence in Colombo 7 and surrounded it, demanding that he step down. However, the police's elite Special Task Force (STF) attacked the protesters and six journalists from a private television station. Angered by the attack, the protesters had set fire to the house of Wickremesinghe who had left it with his wife.
2. "Protesters have broken into the private residence of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and have set it on fire," the PM's office announced. At the party leaders meeting summoned by the Speaker to solve the current crisis, Wickremesinghe had refused to resign from his post. Later he announced that he would resign once an all-party government is formed and a political group proved its majority in the parliament.
3. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's decision came after the biggest protest yet swept Sri Lanka on Saturday as tens of thousands of people broke through barricades and entered President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s residence and nearby office to vent their fury against a leader they hold responsible for the nation’s worst economic crisis.
4. Wickremesinghe told party leaders he was taking the decision to step down in view of the fact that island-wide fuel distribution is due to recommence this week, the World Food Programme Director is due to visit the country this week and the debt sustainability report for the IMF is due to be finalised shortly. So as to ensure the safety of the citizens, the prime minister said he is agreeable to this recommendation by the Opposition party leaders.
5. Sri Lanka’s economy is in a state of collapse, muddling through with aid from India and other countries as its leaders try to negotiate a bailout with the International Monetary Fund. The economic meltdown has led to severe shortages of essential items, leaving people struggling to buy food, fuel and other necessities.
6. The turmoil has led to months of protests, which have nearly dismantled the Rajapaksa political dynasty that has ruled Sri Lanka for most of the past two decades.
7. The president’s older brother resigned as prime minister in May after violent protests saw him seek safety at a naval base, while three other Rajapaksa relatives had quit their Cabinet posts earlier. Much of the public ire has been pointed at the Rajapaksa family, with protesters blaming them for dragging Sri Lanka into chaos with poor management and allegations of corruption.
8. A new prime minister, Wickremesinghe, took over in May to help steer the country out of the crisis. Meanwhile, Rajapaksa has held on to power despite growing calls for him to quit.
9. On Saturday, as droves of people broke through barriers to occupy the president’s residence, hundreds of protesters, some carrying national flags, also stormed his seaside office in another nearby building. Demonstrators have camped outside the entrance to his office for the past three months.
10. Videos posted on social media showed protesters storming the residence, chanting “Gota go home,” calling the president by his nickname. Dozens were seen jumping into the pool, milling about the house and and watching television. Outside the building, barricades were overturned and a black flag was hoisted on a pole.