People Power Has Brought Down Sri Lanka’s Strongman. What Now?

Protest movements produce powerful symbols. Images of the citizens of Sri Lanka storming the presidential residence of the man who steered their country into financial ruin and then refused to step down sent a pointed message. When they started swimming in Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s pool, cooking in his kitchen and working out in the official gym, he had to know it was over for his family’s reign of economic destruction.

For the first time since demonstrations began in March in the capital, Colombo, soldiers were seen joining the protests. So too were the Buddhist monks who had previously helped propel the Rajapaksas to government. When the military starts to turn against the strongman who was once defense secretary, it’s clear the power has finally shifted — though they are still out in force on the streets and there’ve been reports of violence against protesters and journalists that’s put some in hospital. That the weekend was dominated by reports the Rajapaksas were planning on fleeing the country was not surprising given the renewed ferocity of the protesters now driven not just by anger but desperation. The president left his residence before it was seized and his whereabouts are, so far, unknown. He says he’s preparing to resign on Wednesday. His citizens say that’s not soon enough.