Editor’s note: This piece was originally published on 13 July 2022 and has been updated in light of recent events. On 15 July, the speaker of Sri Lanka’s parliament announced that he had accepted Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s resignation and prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in as interim president. Parliament was due to convene on 16 July to begin the process of electing a new leader.
In the hours after the Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa agreed to resign on 9 July, the crowds of protesters who had taken over the presidential palace celebrated what felt like a historic victory. Many had walked for hours to reach the commercial capital, Colombo, to protest over the government’s handling of a worsening economic crisis that has caused severe shortages of food, fuel and medicines. Now they roamed the opulent residence, mobile phones in hand, documenting its extravagance. Some took selfies in the luxurious four-poster bed and lifted weights in the presidential gym; others leaped into the swimming pool.
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