The presidential palace in Sri Lanka is now in the hands of the people since the ouster of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa
Many protesters have taken comfort inside the presidential residence and demand the official resignation of the president and the prime minister. They have warned that they will not leave the residential palace until the leadership leaves.
"The president must resign, the prime minister must resign and the government must go," playwright Ruwanthie de Chickera told a news conference at the protest site, surrounded by other leaders helping to coordinate the anti-government movement.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe are planning to step down, the country's parliament speaker said Saturday, bowing to intense pressure, after a day of protests in which demonstrators stormed the president's official residence and set fire to the prime minister's home in Colombo.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa is said to have been taken into custody by the navy and is at a naval base in Sri Lankan waters. He has said that he will resign on July 13.