The meeting, then the mob. A 'turning point' in Sri Lankan crisis

FILE PHOTO: Supporters of Sri Lanka's ruling party destroy tents belonging to anti-government demonstrators, during a clash between the two groups, in front of the Prime Minister's official residence, amid the country's economic crisis, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, May 9, 2022. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte

COLOMBO (Reuters) - On Monday morning, hundreds of supporters gathered at the prime minister's official residence in Sri Lanka's commercial capital of Colombo where they urged Mahinda Rajapaksa not to resign.

Arguably the country's most powerful man, and scion of the dynasty to which his younger brother, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, also belongs, was contemplating the move to pave the way for an interim government amid economic and social turmoil.