Sri Lanka’s political chaos persists as crisis talks to replace leader go on

People throng President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s official residence for the second day after it was stormed in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Monday, July 11, 2022. Sri Lanka is in a political vacuum for a second day Monday with opposition leaders yet to agree on who should replace its roundly rejected leaders, whose residences are occupied by protesters, angry over the country’s economic woes. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

A weekend of political chaos in Sri Lanka stretched into Monday with opposition leaders yet to agree on replacements for embattled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his prime minister whose residences remain occupied by protesters angered over the country’s economic collapse.

Crowds of demonstrators overran Mr Rajapaksa’s home in Colombo, his seaside office and the official residence of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Saturday and demanded they step down, in the most dramatic day of the three-month crisis.