'We are the real power', say protesters after Sri Lanka prez Rajapaksa quits

However, their fight - that of Arunanandan, Peiris and Pillai, and lakhs of others - is far from over because the protesters believe prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe must quit too.

The crisis in Sri Lanka reached a significant milestone Thursday night after president Gotabaya Rajapaksa finally resigned - something protesters have been demanding since they took to the streets in April. On Friday parliament speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena accepted Rajapaksa's resignation. A new head of state is expected to be named on Wednesday.

Music, dancing and joyous revelry broke out on the streets of Colombo after Gotabaya resigned (REUTERS)

There is understandable jubiliation on the faces of protesters who have came together to voice fury over a forex shortage that has left them scrambling for food, fuel, medicines and other essential goods, and at the mercy of global financial institutions like the International Monetary Fund and relying on neighbours India for credit to purchase basic goods.

Click here for LIVE coverage on ongoing Sri Lanka crisis

"We are so happy today that he resigned and we feel that when we, the people, come together, we can do everything," Arunanandan, a 34-year-old school teacher, told Reuters.

Arunanandan has been camping at the main protest site - opposite the presidential secretariat - for the past three months. "We are the real power in this country."

Jeewantha Peiris, a Catholic priest, said protesters are 'happy because we have come through a hard journey'. "We are happy, as a collective effort... because this struggle of Sri Lanka was participated in by all the citizens... even the diaspora," he told the Associated Press.

Velayuthan Pillai, a 73-year-old retired bank employee, said Gotabaya Rajapaksa - whom protesters have held responsible for the worst economic crisis in living memory - 'should have resigned earlier, without causing much problems'.

However, their fight - that of Arunanandan, Peiris and Pillai, and lakhs of others - is far from over because the protesters believe prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe must quit too.

Wickremesinghe, a six-time former PM, was sworn-in in May amid cautious hope he could lead the country out of this mess. However, since then he has been seen as an ally of the hugely influential Rajapaksa clan, and calls have come for him too to walk away.

For now, though, Wickremesinghe remains... and is doubly powerful, having also been sworn in Friday as acting president following Rajapaksa's resignation. There are also reports he is the favourite to take the post full time - a move by the country's lawmakers that will further inflame protesters. The opposition has nominated Samagi Jana Balawegaya boss Sajith Premadasa, while senior lawmaker Dullas Alahapperuma is seen as a dark horse.

Protests against Sri Lanka's crisis erupted earlier this year and simmered for a while before exploding (again) last week, when thousands stormed government buildings in Colombo, including the president's official residence and the prime minister's office.