Sri Lanka's President Gotabaya Rajapaksa will step down next Wednesday, bowing to popular pressure after a day of violent protests in which demonstrators stormed the president's official residence and set fire to the prime minister's home in Colombo.

President Maithripala Sirisena addressing the nation on Sunday said a plot to assassinate him had prompted him to appoint former President Mahinda Rajapaksa as the Prime Minister. He said he had to take that action after consulting legal experts and it was consistent with the Constitution.