Sri Lanka’s president fled the country Wednesday, plunging a nation already reeling from economic chaos into more political turmoil. Protesters demanding a change in leadership then trained their ire on the prime minister and stormed his office.
The response: Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe appeared on television to reiterate that he would not leave until a new government was in place — though he urged the Parliament speaker to find a new prime minister agreeable to both the government and the opposition. he fled, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has yet to officially resign.
Why they’re angry: Protesters accuse the president and his relatives of siphoning money from government coffers for years and Rajapaksa’s administration of hastening the country’s collapse by mismanaging the economy. The family has denied the corruption allegations, but Rajapaksa acknowledged some of his policies contributed to the meltdown, which has left the island nation laden with debt and unable to pay for imports of basic necessities.
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