Lankan crisis: Gotabaya resigns - A historic palace occupation unwinds
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Now that the Operation Lanka Part I is almost over with the resignation
of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa (Gotabaya on Tuesday signed a
resignation letter dated July 13) and Prime Minister Ranil
Wickremesinghe and a new Government under Opposition leader Sajith
Premadasa as the new Prez is set to take over on July 20, let us take
stock of what happened in the past few days in the Capital of a Lanka
brought to its knees by an acute economic crisis, having run out of food
and medicines for several months now.
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COLOMBO, July 12: The centuries old palace that has always been the symbol
power in Lanka was invaded by an agitated people in a popular uprising that
posterity will record as an unparalleled historic event - an occupation so peaceful
and orderly that never happened even in the cradle of revolutions! It's inexplicable
that a massive stream of protesters from far and wide, tens of thousands of
them, did not go on the rampage nor ransack the mansion although they emptied
out the foods and drinks in the chests of drawers they could lay their hands
on. They cooked in the kitchen, had playful workouts in the gym, frolicked in
the garden pool, pretended to be taking a nap on the royal bed, lounged on the
four-poster, or simply loafed around on the manicured loans. Most unlikely of
crowd behaviour, they displayed bountiful honesty and incredible discipline
when stumbled upon tons of banknotes stacked away in secret nooks of the glitzy
palace! The protesters had a feel of what is opulence. In the next days the
public joined in queues to go in, in order to explore how life inside a palace
is, and saw what they couldn't believe!


The protesters who seized the Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's palace
in Colombo on Saturday and were determined to stay put till the fleeing President
resigns, on Sunday stumbled upon the stacks of currencies valued at 17.85 million
rupees stowed away in hidden chests. The wads of banknotes left behind by Gotabaya
was promptly handed over to the security men who presented them before a court
on Monday.
The 73-year old leader had escaped from the palace before the protesters stormed
his residence on Saturday. Later, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe (73),
who himself said he is resigning to help bring peace to the island, said Rajapaksa
will resign on July 13. (Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Tuesday signed a resignation
letter dated July 13.) But that did not placate the protesters who are camping
in the premises in tens of thousands in strength, experiencing a bit of palace
life Gota had been enjoying even as the countrymen were starving. They plan
to stay in till the time both of them officially resign.
Under the Constitution, Wickremesinghe, the Prime Minister, or in his absence
the Speaker, will take over as the Prez for a maximum period of 30 days to facilitate
an MP to be elected as President for the remainder of Gotabaya's term, that
is until November 2024. It takes a minimum of three days for the parliament
to convene and take a vote.
However, Wickremesinghe has announced he is resigning in order to facilitate
installation of a national unity Government which could deal with the economic
crisis of widespread shortages of food, fuel and medicines, which are imported
for which foreign exchange is required. The crisis was caused by a depletion
of foreign exchange due to a rising foreign debt burden amounting to $51 billion.
The Prez has been accused of mismanaging the economy leading to the crisis the
country is facing. Wickremesinghe's private residence in the city was set on
fire on Saturday night.
Wickremesinghe, an Opposition legislator, was appointed PM after Mahinda Rajapaksa
(76), the President's elder brother, resigned in May as a compromise solution
to try to defuse the economic crisis.
The main Opposition Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) party is likely to join the
splinter group of the ruling SLPP and the smaller parties to install SJB's 55-year
old leader Sajith Premadasa as the new President. It is reported Dullas Alahapperuma,
63, an ex-Minister, is tipped to be the new Prime Minister. But he is a Gotabaya
loyalist.
Tens of thousands of protesters will continue to occupy the Presidential Palace,
the sea-front Presidential Secretariat and the Prime Minister's "Temple Trees"
official residence till they officially resign, which is finally underway.
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