Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned Monday, his spokesperson said, amid the island nation's worst economic crisis since independence that has led to widespread protests.
"The prime minister has sent his letter of resignation to the president," the official said, declining to be named.
The 76-year-old sent his letter of resignation to his younger brother President Gotabaya Rajapaksa clearing the way for a "new unity government," spokesperson Rohan Weliwita said.
Supporters of Sri Lanka's ruling party stormed a major protest site in the country's commercial capital Colombo on Monday, attacking anti-government demonstrators and clashing with police who used tear gas and water cannon to drive them back.
Protests against President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's government have raged for weeks, with thousands demanding Rajapaksa and his influential family quit for mishandling the economy.
On Monday, hundreds of ruling party supporters rallied outside the official residence of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, the president's elder brother, before marching to an anti-government protest site outside the presidential office.
At the "Gota Go Gama" protest site, a tent village that emerged last month to become the focal point of national protests, pro-government supporters – some armed with iron bars – attacked anti-government demonstrators, according to a Reuters witness.
Police used dozens of tear gas rounds and water cannon to break up the confrontation, the first major clash between pro-and anti-government camps after a wave of nationwide protests began in late March.
At least nine people injured in the clashes and facing breathing difficulties after inhaling tear were taken to Colombo's National Hospital, a hospital official said, declining to be named.
"This is a peaceful protest," Pasindu Senanayaka, an anti-government protester told Reuters. "They attacked Gota Go Gama and set fire to our tents."
"We are helpless now, we are begging for help," Senanayaka said, as rings of black smoke spiralled out of a burning tent nearby and parts of the protest camp lay in disarray.
Dozens of paramilitary troops with riot shield and helmets were deployed to keep both groups apart after the initial clashes, and a curfew has been imposed across Sri Lanka's Western Province, which includes Colombo, a police spokesperson said.
Facing escalating anti-government protests, Rajapaksa's government last week declared a state of emergency for the second time in five weeks, but public discontent has steadily simmered, most recently because of a lack of cooking gas.
Sri Lankan energy companies said Monday they were running low on stocks of liquid petroleum gas mainly used in cooking, as shortages of foreign exchange put renewed pressure on the island nation.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the prime minister’s brother, concentrated power in the presidency after being elected in 2019.
The Rajapaksa brothers are likely to retain their grip on power even if the Constitution is amended, since they hold both offices.
