• Sri Lankan protesters say they will leave official buildings, ndtv.com reports quoting AFP
• Sri Lankan authorities on Thursday lifted the curfew, which was imposed in the Western province, after the eruption of violence in the capital
• A student has died in the ongoing protests in Sri Lanka over a severe economic crisis that is being blamed in the current leadership which is now in disarray, reports ndtv.com

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who has fled to the Maldives, could not board a scheduled Singapore Airlines flight from Male to Singapore due to security concerns and is now waiting to travel on a private aircraft, according to a media report on Thursday.

Rajapaksa, the 73-year-old leader who had promised to resign on Wednesday, appointed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as the acting President hours after he fled the country, escalating the political crisis and triggering a fresh wave of protests.

Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena said that Rajapaksa had appointed Ranil Wickremesinghe to act to perform his functions while he is abroad.

Rajapaksa, his wife Loma and their two security officers were expected to leave for Singapore on board SQ437 from Male on Wednesday night but did not board the aircraft due to security concerns, the Daily Mirror newspaper reported.

He instead will now await to travel on a private aircraft, the newspaper said quoting sources.

Talks are now ongoing to secure a private aircraft for the embattled Sri Lankan President to depart from the Maldives to Singapore, it said.

Meanwhile, Abeywardena said that he is yet to receive the resignation letter from President Rajapaksa.

Sri Lanka, a country of 22 million people, is under the grip of an unprecedented economic turmoil, the worst in seven decades, leaving millions struggling to buy food, medicine, fuel and other essentials. Prime Minister Wickremesinghe last week said Sri Lanka is now a bankrupt country.

Last week, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe said Sri Lanka is now a bankrupt country.

We will respect Constitution: Defence chief

Sri Lanka’s defence chief, Gen. Shavendra Silva, said the armed forces and police would respect the Constitution, and called for calm. “We have requested political leaders to decide the way forward till a new President is sworn in and notify us and the public by this evening,” Silva said on Wednesday.

The situation is fragile and any military crackdown on the protesters could further worsen the overall atmosphere, strategic affairs experts warned on Wednesday.

Despite his flight to Maldives, Rajapaksa’s own resignation was not yet confirmed by late Wednesday. Earlier, the parliament Speaker, Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, had said Rajapaksa had phoned him and told him his resignation letter would arrive later on Wednesday. An aide to Abeywardena had no update on the letter late in the day.

Maldives media reported that Singapore was likely to give Rajapaksa asylum. But an aide to Rajapaksa and the Singapore government did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

'Feels pretty marvellou'

Police stationed outside Wickremesinghe’s office had fired several rounds of tear gas, but the protesters were not deterred and surged into the compound.

“It feels pretty marvellous, people were trying to take this place for about three hours,” said college student Sanchuka Kavinda, 25, standing next to a mangled, open gate at the Prime Minister’s office. “No matter what, everyone in this crowd will be here until Ranil also steps down.”

Local media said a 26-year-old protester who was hospitalised after being tear-gassed died of breathing difficulties.

Sinhala pop songs

In a statement, Wickremesinghe said the protesters had no reason to storm his office. “They want to stop the parliamentary process. But we must respect the Constitution,” he said.

On the lower floor of the whitewashed colonial-era building, dozens of protesters sang Sinhala pop songs. A large group of security personnel armed with assault rifles sat in a room.

Protest organisers and security personnel manned a central wooden staircase at the heart of the building, guiding sightseers to and from the upper floor where the Prime Minister’s room is located.

At an adjoining room on the top floor, the plush furniture had been hastily pushed to the corners and a line of armed security personnel ushered visitors through.

Full-time president next week

Parliament is expected to name a new full-time President next week, and a top ruling party source told Reuters that Wickremesinghe was the party’s first choice, although no decision had been taken.

An attempt by Wickremesinghe to cling on would infuriate the protesters who say he is a close ally of the Rajapaksa family, which has dominated the country since Rajapaksa’s older brother Mahinda became President in 2005.

“An MP with one seat is appointed as PM. Now the same person is appointed as acting President,” the Opposition presidential nominee, Sajith Premadasa, said on Twitter. “This is the Rajapaksa style of democracy. What a farce. What a tragedy.”

Government sources and aides said the President’s brothers, former President and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and former finance minister Basil Rajapaksa, were still in Sri Lanka.

The US embassy in Colombo said it was cancelling consular services for the afternoon and for Thursday as a precautionary measure.

With reports from PTI, New York Times News Service, and Reuters