President Gotabaya Rajapaksa made his stance clear for the first time amid massive public pressure to step down and said he would respect any decision taken at the party leaders' meeting.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa agreed to resign on July 13.

Sri Lanka Economic Crisis Latest Update: Hours after the all-party leaders’ meeting in Colombo, Sri Lanka’s NewsWire citing Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena said President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has agreed to tender his resignation on July 13 amid rising protests across the country.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa made his stance clear for the first time amid massive public pressure to step down and said he would respect any decision taken at the party leaders’ meeting.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said that Rajapaska has informed him that he would stand by any decision taken by the party leaders, who are scheduled to meet on Saturday evening.

Amid the collapse of the country’s economy, since March 31 people have taken to the streets demanding the resignation of Rajapaksa. The continuous public protests were controlled violently, but it forced then Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and all his family members in politics to step down.

In a late evening development, the angry protesters broke into the private residence of Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and set it on fire. However, the Lanka Police tried to fire tear gas on the crowd marching towards Ranil Wickeremesinghe’s private residence.

With no plans to import fuel, Sri Lanka has been closed for two weeks since June 27, even as people planned July 9 as the day to remove Rajapaksa. Thousands marched to Colombo on Saturday from all over the country, demanding President and Prime Minister’s resignation.

After taking over the President’s official residence and office in Colombo, the protesters have also taken control Temple Trees, the official residence of the Prime Minister.