Anti-government protesters in Sri Lanka announced the end of their occupation of government buildings on Thursday, vowing to continue their campaign to depose the President and Prime Minister considering the country's catastrophic economic situation.

Protesters had stormed President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's palace over the weekend, forcing him to leave for the Maldives the next day, and later on, they also stormed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's office. Rajapaksa had promised to quit on Wednesday, but no statement had been made.

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In his absence, Rajapaksa appointed the Premier as Acting President, ordering the evacuation of official buildings and instructing security personnel to do "whatever is necessary to restore order."

"We are peacefully withdrawing from the Presidential Palace, the Presidential Secretariat, and the Prime Minister's Office with immediate effect, but will continue our struggle," a spokeswoman for the protesters said.

Hundreds of thousands of people had sit-ins within the property after Rajapaksa fled and his security guards backed down.

Wickremesinghe claimed on television after thousands of protesters stormed his office in Colombo, "Those who come to my office want to prevent me from carrying out my duty as acting president."

"We can't allow fascists to take over. That is why I declared a nationwide emergency and a curfew," he added.

President on the run

On Thursday, Rajapaksa is in the Maldives, expecting a private jet to take him, his wife Ioma, and two bodyguards to Singapore.

According to local media, he refused to board a commercial airplane with other passengers after being met with hostility when he arrived in the Maldives early Wednesday.

As he walked out of Velana International Airport, he was booed and insulted, and another group mounted a protest in the capital that afternoon, imploring Maldivian authorities not to allow him safe passage. According to Maldivian media, he spent the night at the Waldorf Astoria Ithaafushi super luxury resort.

They compared his opulent lodgings with his countrymen's economic suffering, with four out of five Sri Lankans skipping meals due to the country's catastrophic economic crisis.

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According to security sources in Colombo, Rajapaksa is expected to leave the Maldives on Thursday, and his resignation could be announced once he is in the air. "The resignation letter has been prepared," the source told AFP. "No sooner he gives the green light, the Speaker will issue it."

The diplomatic sources stated that Rajapaksa's attempts to obtain a visa to the United States were denied because he relinquished his US citizenship in 2019 before campaigning for president.

Last week, thousands of men and women stormed Rajapaksa's residence, which drove him out to escape to a military base, later fleeing the country, on the day he previously promised to resign. 

In April, all 24 ministers of Sri Lanka's cabinet resigned from their posts amid protests and clashes in the capital, Colombo.

Sri Lanka has been facing a severe shortage of fuel, medicine, and food, as well as record inflation rates.

Economic crisis

The political turmoil in Sri Lanka, coupled with the worst economic crisis in seven decades, has been exacerbated by a severe shortage of foreign currency, which has slowed imports of essentials such as fuel, food, and medicines.

The financial crisis arose as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which devastated the tourism-dependent economy and reduced remittances from overseas workers.

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It has been exacerbated by the government's massive and growing debt, rising oil prices, and a seven-month ban on importing chemical fertilizers last year, which devastated agriculture.

Petrol has been severely rationed, and long lines have formed in front of cooking gas stores. In order to save fuel, the government has asked people to work from home and has closed schools. Headline inflation in the 22-million-person country reached 54.6% last month, and the central bank has warned that it could reach 70% in the coming months.