Picture Credit: Amalini (@Amaliniii) on Twitter
As the credibly accused war criminal Gotabaya Rajapaksa submitted his letter of resignation as President, the announcement triggered jubilation in Colombo, as protestors gathered outside the presidential secretariat, defying a city-wide curfew to celebrate.
Crowds of protestors in the south set off firecrackers, shouted slogans and danced at the Gota Go Gama protest site, named in mockery of Rajapaksa's first name.
#WATCH Colombo | People celebrate at Galle Face Park following the resignation of Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa pic.twitter.com/cfWNYrpIdJ
— ANI (@ANI) July 14, 2022
Gotabaya was democratically elected into power in 2019 by receiving 6.9 million votes, receiving more than 52% of the nearly 16 million possible votes. He received votes from a disproportionate majority of the Sinhala south, amidst overwhelming evidence of orchestrating war crimes, crimes against humanity and the genocide against Tamils in the northeast.
The president resigned, hours after fleeing to Singapore in response to mass protests over the economic crisis.
Protests against the economic crisis have exploded last weekend when hundreds of thousands of people took over government buildings in Colombo, blaming the Rajapaksa family and allies for runaway inflation, shortage of basic goods, and corruption.
"The whole country will celebrate today," Damitha Abeyrathne, an activist from the south, said. "It's a big victory."
Picture Credit: Amalini (@Amaliniii) on Twitter
Tamils in the northeast have been reluctant to join such anti-government protests and celebrations for their failure to include demands of prosecution of the Rajapaksa regime for executing war crimes and gross human rights violations of Tamils during the culmination of the genocide in 2009. As many as 169,796 Tamils were killed in the Mullivaikkal massacre.