An ally of the Rajapaksa political family was appointed Friday as Sri Lanka’s prime minister, hours after security forces cleared the main protest site occupied for months by demonstrators angry at the Rajapaksas over the country’s economic collapse. New President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who was elected by lawmakers and sworn into office earlier this week, appointed his school classmate Dinesh Gunawardena to succeed himself. Gunawardena is 73 and belongs to a prominent political family. Sri Lankans have taken to the streets for months demanding their leaders resign over an economic crisis that has left the island nations’ 22 million people short of essentials like medicine, food and fuel. The protests forced out former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa last week. His family has ruled Sri Lanka for most of the last two decades, but public outrage over the economic crisis forced several family members to leave ministry posts earlier in the crisis. Gunawardena ’s appointment came several hours after security forces made several arrests and cleared a protest camp near the presidential palace in the capital, Colombo, where demonstrators have gathered for the past 104 days. Read: Sri Lankan forces make arrests, clear main protest site Army and police personnel arrived in trucks and buses around midnight, removing tents and protest banners. They blocked off roads leading to the site and carried long poles. The security forces were witnessed beating up at least two journalists. The Bar Association of Sri Lanka, the main lawyers’ body in the country, also said at least two lawyers were assaulted when they went to the protest site to offer their counsel. Its statement Friday called for a halt to the “unjustified and disproportionate actions” of armed forces against civilians. On Monday, when he was then the acting president, Wickremesinghe declared a state of emergency that gave him broad authority to act in the interest of public security and order. Authorities have broad power to search premises and detain people, and Wickremesinghe can change or suspend any law. On Friday, he issued a notice under the state of emergency calling out the armed forces to maintain law and order nationwide. The emergency must be reviewed by Parliament regularly to decide whether to extend it or let it expire.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in as Sri Lanka’s interim president Friday until Parliament elects a successor to Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who resigned after mass protests over the country’s economic collapse forced him from office. The speaker of Sri Lanka’s Parliament said Rajapaksa resigned as president effective Thursday and lawmakers will convene Saturday to choose a new leader. Their choice would serve out the remainder of Rajapaksa’s term ending in 2024, said Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana. He expects the process to be done in seven days. That person could potentially appoint a new prime minister, who would then have to be approved by Parliament. With Rajapaksa done, pressure on Wickremesinghe was rising. Opponents had viewed his appointment as prime minister in May as alleviating pressure on Rajapaksa to resign. He became the acting president when Rajapaksa fled Sri Lanka on Wednesday. Rajapaksa arrived in Singapore on Thursday and his resignation became official on that date. The prime minister’s office said Wickremesinghe was sworn in Friday as interim president before Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya. Read: Sri Lankan president resigns, Parliament to convene Sri Lanka has run short of money to pay for imports of basic necessities such as food, fertilizer, medicine and fuel, to the despair of its 22 million people. Its rapid economic decline has been all the more shocking because, before this crisis, the economy had been expanding, with a growing, comfortable middle class. Protesters cooked and distributed milk rice — a food Sri Lankans enjoy to celebrate victories — after Rajapaksa’s resignation. At the main protest site in front of the president’s office in Colombo, people welcomed his resignation but insisted Wickremesinghe also should step aside. “I am happy that Gotabaya has finally left. He should have resigned earlier, without causing much problems,” Velauynatha Pillai, 73, a retired bank employee, said as patriotic songs were blaring from loudspeakers. But he added that “Ranil is a supporter of Gotabaya and other Rajapaksas. He was helping them. He also must go.” Protesters who had occupied government buildings retreated Thursday, restoring a tenuous calm in the capital, Colombo. But with the political opposition in Parliament fractured, a solution to Sri Lanka’s many woes seemed no closer.

Basil Rajapaksa, the younger brother of Sri Lanka’s president and the country’s former finance minister, said he resigned from Parliament on Thursday, amid mounting criticism of his alleged role in dragging the island nation into its worst economic crisis in memory. He told a news conference he had submitted a letter to give up his Parliament seat but insisted that he was not solely responsible for the country’s economic hardships. “The crisis was there even when I took over,” he said. “I did my best with all my strength.” Rajapaksa, a member of the powerful political family that has ruled Sri Lanka for much of the past two decades, served as finance minister from July last year until April, when he resigned with other ministers over the government’s failure to resolve the economic situation. He said Thursday that successive governments that ruled Sri Lanka since the 1950s deserve blame too because “they took loans and spent them” without taking steps to avert a crisis. The resignation could be seen as a severe blow to the Rajapaksa dynasty, which has faced growing public outrage. Protesters have occupied the entrance to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s office for more than 50 days demanding his resignation, saying the primary responsibility for the economic crisis rests with him and his family, who they accuse of corruption and mismanagement. The protests drove another family member, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, from office last month amid nationwide violence that saw his supporters attack peaceful protesters. One of the president’s other siblings and a nephew also resigned from their Cabinet posts but still serve as lawmakers. Mahinda Rajapaksa was Sri Lanka’s president from 2005 to 2015. Also Read: Sri Lanka holds its breath as new PM fights to save economy Basil Rajapaksa said Thursday he would not be involved in government anymore but vowed to “continue political work.” Sri Lanka is nearly bankrupt with an acute foreign currency crisis that resulted in a foreign debt default. The country announced last month that it is suspending nearly $7 billion in foreign debt repayments due this year out of about $25 billion due by 2026. Sri Lanka’s total foreign debt stands at $51 billion. For months Sri Lankans have endured shortages of food and fuel, power outages and other privations. The country lacks the financial wherewithal to buy imported necessities and pay its debts. Authorities have started discussions with the International Monetary Fund for a bailout package and have asked the IMF to lead a conference to unite Sri Lanka’s lenders.

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa has paid rich tribute to the memory of Father of the Nation of Bangladesh Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum in the city.