Countrywide protests as the President attends Parliamentary sessions.

Widespread protests were in place in Colombo and elsewhere, with people shouting slogans calling for an end to the present regime. In some places, people languished in long queues to fetch daily essentials. Parliament debated the current situation in the country while President Gotabaya Rajapksa too arrived in the well of the Chamber. Government members accorded a  Colombo and suburbs came under a heavy security dragnet as the protestors took to the streets and walked towards the Colombo Fort and Polduwa Mawatha in Battaramulla. The Parliament, in the meantime, passed the Tax Surcharge bill with amendments. President Rajapaksa earlier yesterday appointed Dr Indrajith Coomaraswmy, Professor Shantha Devarajan, and Dr Sharmini Cooray as members of the Presidential Advisory Group on Multilateral engagement and debt sustainability.