Sri Lankan president resigns after fleeing country, Parliament to start search for replacement

Sri Lanka’s Parliament speaker announced President Gotabaya Rajapaksa resigned effective Thursday after he fled the country amid protests and a severe economic crisis.

Lorraine Taylor is an editor at Fox News. News tips can be sent to lorraine.taylor@fox.com or on Twitter @LorraineEMT.

Rajapaksa fled Sri Lanka Wednesday after protesters swarmed his home and other government offices. The protesters accuse Rajapaksa of stealing money from the government for years. They also accuse his administration of mismanaging the economy causing it to collapse. Rajapaksa has acknowledged that some of his policies contributed to the meltdown.

Months of protests reached a frenzied peak over the weekend when demonstrators stormed the president’s home and office and the official residence of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. On Wednesday, they seized Wickremesinghe’s office.