Sri Lankan protesters, who have been camping at the main beachfront outside Sri Lankan President’s secretariat here, have now extended their protest to Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa’s office, as they intensified their demand for the government led by the Rajapaksa family to step down.

Thousands of demonstrators have hit the streets since April 9, as the government ran out of money for vital imports; prices of essential commodities have skyrocketed and there are acute shortages in fuel, medicines and electricity supply.

The street protest opposite the presidential secretariat entered its 18th day on Tuesday, demanding the resignations of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, his 76-year-old elder brother.

To give impetus to the protest, the protesters have now set up a protest site “Mahinda go home village” near Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa’s office-cum-residence known as Temple Trees.

Earlier, the Colombo magistrate court had refused to issue a police order preventing protests near the Temple Trees.

The Rajapaksas are under pressure to resign for their mishandling of the forex crisis which landed the island nation into its worst economic crisis.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had to drop his older brother Chamal and the eldest nephew Namal from the Cabinet in response to the protests which called for accountability from the family.