Sri Lanka: PM orders military to do ‘whatever it takes’ to maintain order

State of emergency declared as protesters reject premier Ranil Wickremesinghe acting as president and demand he and Gotabaya Rajapaksa resign

Protests erupted in Sri Lanka on Wednesday after the president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, fled to the Maldives on a military jet - but neither he nor the prime minster officially resigned, throwing the country into political chaos.

After Gotabaya's clandestine departure, a Sri Lankan official said that the prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, had been appointed by Rajapaksa to be acting president.