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They shared sweets, hugged each other or waved the national flag.
For more than three months, the main thoroughfare by the sea has been home to a group of tents used as a platform for protesters, who denounced the despised leader for his role in ruining Sri Lanka’s battered economy. demanding to leave.
But only a few hundred people gathered to mark a major milestone in the movement’s months, when Rajapaksa emailed his resignation from a safe haven in Singapore after fleeing the country to avoid public anger.
Many veterans of the protest movement were exhausted in the past after facing barrage of tear gas and tense clashes with security forces.
For others, the moment was marred by word that a legal technicality could delay the formal recognition that Rajapaksa had indeed stepped down.
“I definitely feel, I think the crowd here definitely feels, quite happy about it,” activist Veri Balthazar told AFP.
“But at the same time, I think until we see the letter, there is always apprehension.”
A portion of the small crowd drawn to the protest camp on Thursday evening danced to an improvised call-and-response song by performers on a wooden stage, through a scratchy public address system, as a strange pair of Buddhist monks watched. Was being
Elsewhere, the camp continued its function as a safety net for residents of the country’s economic crisis-stricken capital, with a group of needy citizens queuing up at soup kitchens.
Almost all of those present were gone by midnight due to evening rains, persistent petrol shortages in Sri Lanka and a government curfew imposed to prevent unrest.
The subdued celebration was a far cry from the high-octane clash on the streets of Colombo over the weekend, when huge crowds made their way past soldiers to seize Rajapaksa’s home and office.
Soldiers opened fire in the air to clear the President’s escape route, which marks the humiliating exit of his brother Mahinda from his own residence two months ago.
The resignation of his sibling finance minister Basil Rajapaksa in April as well as his departure wound up with – perhaps lastly – a clan that has dominated the country’s politics for the past two decades.
“We feel really amazing. We have shown the strength of the people,” university student Anjana Banadravatta told AFP.
Under the Sri Lankan constitution, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe would automatically become the acting president, unless Parliament appoints a successor.
But protesters are also calling for Wickremesinghe’s resignation, accusing him of helping foster a political system that has allowed corruption and authoritarianism to flourish.
Banadravatta said that he and the others would continue their struggle in the morning.
“We are starting a new battle tomorrow with new hope,” the 22-year-old said.
But before that, he said, “Of course we’re going to have fun and celebrate.”
Inputs from AFP
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