Sri Lanka protesters plan to occupy president and PM's residences until they quit

People visit the President's house on the following day after demonstrators entered the building, after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled, amid the country's economic crisis, in Colombo, Sri Lanka July 10, 2022. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte

Leaders of the protest movement in Sri Lanka who have forced the president and prime minister out of their official residences said on Sunday they will occupy the buildings until the two quit office.

"The president has to resign, the prime minister has to resign and the government has to go," said playwright Ruwanthie de Chickera at a news conference at the protest site, flanked by other leaders helping coordinate the movement against the government.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe plan to step down, the country's parliamentary speaker said on Saturday, bowing to intense pressure after a day of protests in which demonstrators stormed the president's official residence and set fire to the prime minister's home in Colombo.

A man takes selfies inside the President's house gym, on the day after demonstrators entered the building, after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled, amid the country's economic crisis, in Colombo, Sri Lanka July 10, 2022. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte

(Reporting by Uditha Jayaeshinghe and Devjyot Ghoshal; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

Demonstrators sleep on the President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's bed at the President's house, on the following day after demonstrators entered the building, after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled, amid the country's economic crisis, in Colombo, Sri Lanka July 10, 2022. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte

People cook in the garden of the Prime Minister's residence on the following day after demonstrators entered the building, amid the country's economic crisis, in Colombo, Sri Lanka July 10, 2022. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte

A man sleeps on a couch inside the President's house on the following day after demonstrators entered the building, after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled, amid the country's economic crisis, in Colombo, Sri Lanka July 10, 2022. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte