Sri Lanka waits in confusion, anger for president to resign

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lankans woke up to confusion on Thursday, still waiting for their embattled president to resign after he fled the country, as the island nation fumes over an economic meltdown that has sparked political chaos.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his wife fled to the Maldives on Wednesday aboard an air force jet. He made the prime minister acting president in his absence — a move that further roiled passions among a public that blames Rajapaksa for an economic crisis that has caused severe shortages of food and fuel.

On Wednesday, protesters, undeterred by multiple rounds of tear gas, scaled the walls to enter the office of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as the crowd outside cheered in support and tossed water bottles to them.

Protesters took turns posing at the prime minister's desk or stood on a rooftop terrace waving the Sri Lankan flag after the latest in a series of takeovers of government buildings by the demonstrators — who see the political maneuvers as delaying their goal of a new government.

Late on Wednesday night, crowds also gathered outside the Parliament. Demonstrators clashed with security officers who fired tear gas into the air.

Wickremesinghe's office declared a nationwide curfew and imposed a state of emergency giving broader powers to the military and police. The curfew was lifted early Thursday.

Over the weekend, the two leaders both said they would resign after protesters stormed Rajapaksa's and Wickremesinghe's official residences in a dramatic escalation of months of protests. Some set fire to Wickremesinghe's private residence, and his whereabouts were unknown.

The protesters blame Rajapaksa and his powerful, dynastic family for leading the country into an economic abyss, but they are also furious with...