Sri Lankans intensify protests; president Rajapaksa heads to Singapore

Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who left Sri Lanka and travelled to Maldives in the wee hours of Wednesday, will leave for Singapore later in the day, ANI quoted Lankan website Daily Mirror.

This comes at a time when the protests in the island nation have peaked with prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe having declared emergency as an acting president.

Rajapaksa along with his wife and two bodyguards arrived in Male early Wednesday morning where he was received by speaker Mohamed Nasheed. Rajapaksa fled on a day when he is supposed to formally step down as the president. After camping for several hours at Male, he is now headed to Singapore.

But his decision to leave his ally Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in charge as acting president triggered more demonstrations, with protesters storming the premier's office demanding that he go too.

On the lower floor of the two-storied, whitewashed colonial-era building, dozens of protesters gathered to sing Sinhala pop songs. In a nearby air-conditioned room, sat a large group of security personnel armed with assault rifles.

Protest organisers and security personnel manned a central wooden staircase at the heart of the building, guiding sightseers to and from the upper floor where the prime minister's room is located.

Wickremesinghe has directed the military force and police to 'do anything' to restore order. "They want to stop me from discharging my responsibilities as acting president. We can't allow fascists to take over," the prime minister was quoted by news agency AFP.

Sri Lanka's defence chief, General Shavendra Silva, said the armed forces and police would respect the constitution, and called for calm after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled to the Maldives.

"We have requested political leaders to decide the way forward till a new president is sworn in and notify us and the public by this evening," Silva said.