Lagatar24 Desk
Colombo, July 13: The national broadcaster of Sri Lanka, SLRC, also known as Jathika Rupavahini, ceased live programming on Wednesday as protesters approached its location.
Live broadcasts by the publicly traded Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation (SLRC) have been halted.
In the meantime, there have been claims that Sri Lanka’s ailing President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has named Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as the country’s acting president.
As security personnel stationed outside of Wickremesinghe’s home prepared to fire tear gas at demonstrators, a state of emergency was announced. The area near the PM’s house also started to see air patrols.
As protests grew more intense following Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s flight to the Maldives, Wickremesinghe today proclaimed an emergency and enforced a curfew in the country’s western district.
Country’s Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena said that he is yet to receive a letter of resignation from Gotabaya. “We haven’t received President Gotabaya’s resignation yet, but we hope to get one in a day,” Abeywardena told ANI.
After large protesters overran his home on July 9, Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled into hiding and declared his resignation on July 13. The nation is going through its worst economic crisis with skyrocketing inflation, and a significant scarcity of fuel, and other basic goods.
