Sri Lankan PM Orders Military To Do Whatever Is Necessary To Restore Order

Anti-government protests in Sri Lanka. (Wikimedia Commons/AntanO)

JAKARTA - Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe ordered the country's military to do whatever was necessary to restore order, after protesters stormed his office on Wednesday.

Wickremesinghe has been appointed acting president by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who has left the country.

But the decision to leave him in charge sparked further protests demanding that the prime minister should step down as well. Sri Lanka has been suffering from its worst economic crisis in decades.

Many blame the Rajapaksa government for the crisis and see Wickremesinghe, who became prime minister in May, as part of the problem.

On Wednesday, for the second time in less than a week, protesters broke into a highly secure state building. This time it was the prime minister's office.

Replaying an earlier scene over the weekend at the official occupied presidential residence, people in the prime minister's office sat on plush sofas taking photos, while others stood at chairs and tables waving Sri Lankan flags.

In a televised address, Wickremesinghe called on protesters to leave his occupied office and other state buildings, cooperating with the authorities.

"We can't tear up our constitution. We can't let fascists take over. We have to end this fascist threat to democracy," he said.

PM Ranil. (Wikimedia Commons/Vikalpa/Groundviews/Maatram/CPA)

But, asked if the prime minister's statement was an indication that the army might take over, a human rights lawyer in Colombo, Bhavani Fonseka, told BBC World at One, Sri Lanka "has no history where the military has played an active role in politics or government. , unlike some of the other countries around it.

"We have a very strong democracy and have elected representatives in that role. But we are also in an unprecedented situation, so anything is possible," he explained.

Outside the president's office, the BBC's Tessa Wong says armed soldiers stood silently watching protesters celebrate inside the office. And the demonstrators ignored the prime minister's call for the office to be vacated.

"Our goal is for (President) Gota to step down. And Ranil and the rest of the cabinet to step down," a protester in the prime minister's office, Nixon Chandranathan, told the BBC.

"We need an honest and honest leader to build Sri Lanka now," he continued.

"We feel proud," Satish Bee, a businessman who came to explore the complex after the raid, told AFP.

"There is no proper government in this country. Never good. Young people, they don't want to continue like this," he said.

As previously reported, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is expected to head to Singapore after fleeing to the Maldives in the early hours of Wednesday. A government source in Sri Lanka told Reuters.

The source, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, said Rajapaksa will send his resignation letter to the Sri Lankan parliament speaker upon landing in Singapore on Wednesday 13 July.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa left Sri Lanka early in the morning aboard an Air Force military plane. Gotabaya Rajapaksa even though he had intended to resign due to a massive demonstration.

Rajapaksa departed on an Air Force plane for the Maldives at around 2 a.m. local time, said Colonel Nalin Herath, a spokesman for Sri Lanka's defense ministry. Three immigration officials, who declined to be named due to the political situation, confirmed his departure as well, according to The New York Times.