Sri Lanka Pols Tackle Replacement Of Prime Minister, President

For the second day in a row, Sri Lanka was in a leadership vacuum, with opposition leaders unable to agree on who should replace the country's roundly rejected leaders, whose homes are occupied by demonstrators unhappy over the country's profound economic troubles, Krishan Francis reported for Associated Press (AP).

Photo Insert: Protesters from all walks of life have sworn to remain until the leaders' resignations are official.

Protesters remained in President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s residence, his seaside office and the prime minister’s official home, which they stormed on Saturday demanding the two leaders step down.

It marked the most dramatic day of protests during three months of a relentless crisis that has pushed many to the brink of despair amid acute shortages of fuel, food, medicine, and other necessities.

Protesters from all walks of life have sworn to remain until the leaders' resignations are official. According to the house speaker, Rajapaksa has stated that he will resign on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe maintained Monday, in his first video message since Saturday's protests, that he will continue in office until a new government is formed because he wants to work within the constitution.

“A government has to function according to the law. I am here to protect the constitution and through it fulfill the people’s demands. What we need today is an all-party government and we will take steps to establish that,” Wickremesinghe said.

He also explained the sequence of events that led to the burning of his private residence on Saturday.

He said that angry protesters gathered around his house after a lawmaker, in what Wickremesinghe said was an inaccurate tweet, said that he had refused to resign at a meeting of parliamentary party leaders.

“Police baton-charged and fired tear gas. The last option was to shoot. We did not shoot but they came and burnt the house,” he said.

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