BREAKING: Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe announces to resign

Sri Lanka Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has announced that he will resign from his post in order to ensure the continuation of the government and the safety of all the citizensTaking to Twitter Wickremesinghe said To ensure the continuation of the Government including the safety of all citizens I accept the best recommendation of the Party Leaders today to make way for an AllParty Government To facilitate this I will resign as Prime MinisterEarlier Sri Lankan Prime Minister said in a statement that he took this decision in view of the fact that islandwide fuel distribution is due to recommence this week the World Food Program Director is due to visit the country this week and the Debt Sustainability report for the IMF is due to be finalised shortlyAlso Read PHOTOS Angry protestors in Sri Lanka storm inside Presidents houseSo as to ensure the safety of the citizens he is agreeable to this recommendation by the Opposition Party Leaders the statement readsMeanwhile Sri Lankan MP Harsha de Silva said that the majority of party leaders had agreed on President and Prime Ministers resignation and the Speaker to act as President for a maximum of 30 days He further said that the leaders also agreed on the election of MP as President for the remaining term will be elected by the parliamentAll party interim government to be appointed in the next few days he addedEarlier Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe summoned an emergency Party Leaders meeting to discuss the situation and come to a swift resolutionThe Prime Minister is also requesting the Speaker to summon ParliamentLankan local publication Daily Mirror reported that several gunshots were heard being fired in the air and police unsuccessfully used tear gas to ward off protestors who surrounded the presidential residence Two people have reportedly been injuredProtestors have entered the Presidents House tweeted the Daily MirrorSri Lankas police imposed a curfew in several police divisions in Western Province with effect from 9 pm local time Friday until further notice ahead of a planned protest today demanding the resignation of President Gotabaya RajapaksaStrict action will be taken on those violating the curfew the police said The Sri Lankan publication said travelling through the areas where police curfew is in effect is completely prohibited and police had advised people to use other alternative routesThe worsening economic situation in the country has led to increasing tensions and over the last few weeks there were reports of several confrontations between individuals and members of the police force and the armed forces at fuel stations where thousands of desperate members of the public have queued for hours and sometimes days Police have used tear gas and water cannon at times in an unnecessary and disproportionate manner On occasions armed forces have also fired live ammunitionSri Lanka is suffering its worst economic crisis since gaining independence in 1948 which comes on the heels of successive waves of COVID19 threatening to undo years of development progress and severely undermining the countrys ability to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals SDGsThe oil supply shortage has forced schools and government offices to close until further notice Reduced domestic agricultural production a lack of foreign exchange reserves and local currency depreciation have fuelled the shortages The economic crisis will push families into hunger and poverty some for the first time adding to the half a million people who the World Bank estimates have fallen below the poverty line because of the pandemicThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever