Gotabaya Rajapaksa informs PM’s office of resignation intention as brother Basil is turned away at airport and opposition leader signals plan to run for president

Sri Lanka’s government has confirmed the president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, is to resign, paving the way for the appointment of a successor, amid reports that the beleaguered leader had attempted to flee the country on Monday.

A statement from the office of the prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, said “Rajapaksa has officially informed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe that he will be resigning”, in the most formal confirmation yet that the president intends to step down later this week.

Protesters turn compound into community kitchen and museum as they demand president’s resignation

It was once the palatial colonial-era home frequented only by Sri Lanka’s political elite. But by Sunday morning, Temple Trees, the formal residence of the country’s prime minister, was “open to the public”, according to a large sign graffitied at the entrance.

In the aftermath of the dramatic events of Saturday, when tens of thousands of anti-government protesters stormed the state residences of the president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, and prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, Temple Trees was among the political properties now defiantly occupied by ordinary Sri Lankans.