President Rajapaksa's current whereabouts remain unknown.
Sri Lankan Army chief General Shavendra Silva today sought people's support to maintain peace as the island nation grapples with an unprecedented economic crisis. Four ministers have resigned from the cabinet over the last two days amid the unrest.
Here are the top 10 updates on this big story
- General Shavendra Silva requested Sri Lankans to support the armed forces and the police to ensure that peace is maintained in the country as protesters roamed through the ransacked presidential palace in Colombo today.
- The protesters have claimed that they found millions of rupees inside President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's mansion. The recovered money was handed over to security forces, a Lankan daily reported.
- The International Monetary Fund or IMF said it was closely monitoring the ongoing developments in the cash-starved country and hoped that the political crisis will be resolved soon to allow for the resumption of dialogue on an IMF-supported programme.
- Dhammika Perera today stepped down as Minister of Investment Promotion. He is the fourth minister to resign from the cabinet after Harin Fernando, Manusha Nanayakkara and Bandula Gunawardena over the last two days amid the unrest.
- India said it was "trying to help" Sri Lanka through its present economic crisis. Union External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also made it clear that there was "no refugee crisis" as of now in the wake of the unrest in the neighbouring country.
- The United States has urged Sri Lanka's politicians to come forward and "work quickly" to achieve long-term solutions to address the people's discontent. The country criticised Saturday's violence, but also warned the island nation over any attacks on protesters and journalists.
- Thousands of protesters barged into the official residence of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Saturday, demanding his resignation. The home of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was also set on fire even after he offered to quit.
- Following the protests, President Rajapaksa informed Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena that he will step down on July 13, while Prime Minister Wickremesinghe said he would resign as soon as an all-party government was ready to take over. The Speaker would become the acting President after Mr Rajapaksa resigns. Later, an election among MPs will be held to elect a new President, reports said.
- President Rajapaksa's current whereabouts remain unknown as of now. On Saturday, videos emerged of suitcases being loaded on a Sri Lanka Navy ship. Local media claims that the suitcases were of President Rajapaksa.
- The unrest comes at the tail end of Australia's ongoing cricket tour of Sri Lanka, with Pakistan's squad also in the island nation for their upcoming series. Cricket officials said there were no plans to change their schedules, adding that the sport was unaffected by the political turmoil.
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