Leaders resign amid Sri Lanka's political drama

Sri Lanka's President and Prime Minister have been forced to stand down after a day of upheaval in the strife-torn country.

Sri Lankan protestors set fire to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesingheâs private residence in Colombo, Sri Lanka, July 09, 2022. Months into the countryâs worst-ever economic crisis, thousands of protesters in Sri Lanka on Saturday stormed the presidentâs official residence and demanded his immediate resignation, local media reported. Holding Sri Lankan flags and helmets, some protesters broke through police barricades and entered President Gotabaya Rajapaksaâs residence in the capital Colombo, leading law enforcement to fire in the air to disperse them, according to video from local TV news channel NewsFirst. Local media claimed that Rajapaksa left the residence and was taken to a safe place. TV footage shows some of these protestors bursting through the gates of the presidential secretariat on the seafront, which has been the site of a sit-in protest for months. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe called an emergency meeting of political party leaders amid growing anger over the governmentâs handling of the economic crisis. Source: Getty / Anadolu Agency/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images