Sri Lanka’s opposition political parties were meeting Sunday to agree on a new government a day after the country’s president and prime minister offered to resign
Protesters look around at the president's official residence a day after it was stormed in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on July 10, 2022.COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — in the most dramatic day of monthslong political turmoil, with protesters storming both leaders’ homes and setting fire to one of the buildings in a rage over the economic crisis.
On Sunday, occupants of the prime minister’s official residence cooked in an outdoor kitchen, played carrom — a popular tabletop game — and slept on big sofas. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said he will leave office once a new government is in place, and hours later the speaker of Parliament said Rajapaksa would step down Wednesday. Pressure on both men had grown as the economic meltdown set off, leaving people struggling to obtain food, fuel and other necessities.
Wickremesinghe had been part of crucial talks with the International Monetary Fund for a bailout program and with the World Food Program to prepare for a predicted food crisis. The government must submit a plan on debt sustainability to the IMF in August before reaching an agreement. He said while Wickremesinghe was working in the right direction, his administration’s weakness was not implementing a long-term plan to go with its focus on solving day-to-day problems.
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