Sri Lanka's President Gotabaya Rajapaksa will step down next Wednesday, the country's parliamentary speaker said on Saturday, after a day of violent protests in which demonstrators stormed the president's official residence and set fire to the prime minister's home in Colombo, Trend reports citing Reuters.
Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena said in a video statement Rajapaksa had informed him that he will step down from his post.
"The decision to step down on 13 July was taken to ensure a peaceful handover of power," Abeywardena said. "I therefore request the public to respect the law and maintain peace," he said.
The announcement came after a dramatic escalation in months of anti-government protests over the dire economic crisis in Sri Lanka.