
Sri Lankans have criticised a Wednesday night speech by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa where he ignored calls to resign and vowed to restore order.
In his first national address since protests began last month, he offered to cede some of the presidency’s power to parliament, but set no timetable.
Sri Lankans who have been calling for him to resign over an unprecedented economic crisis were unimpressed.
Many said the speech failed to address the real issues.
Defying a nationwide curfew in Sri Lanka, several hundred protesters continued to chant slogans against the government, after violent clashes saw the resignation of the prime minister who is blamed, along with his brother, the president, for leading the country into its worst economic crisis in decades.

