Sri Lankan protesters occupy presidential palace

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• Judy Woodruff:

  The political crisis in Sri Lanka took a new turn today. Officials on the Indian Ocean island said that Parliament will vote on a new president next week. That's after mass protests in the capital forced the president and prime minister to offer their resignations.

  Peter Smith of Independent Television News is in Colombo, and filed this report.

• Peter Smith:

  In Sri Lanka, the queue for petrol no longer last for hours. The wait is now measured in days. This is what it looks like when the country runs out of fuel and money.

  Protesters have stormed the gates of the presidential palace and, from what we saw today, they have now taken over.

• Person:

  We will win, because people are united.

• Peter Smith:

  This president is not coming back here?

• Person:

  He will never come. If he comes here, our people will kick out him.

• Peter Smith:

  The writing is now on the wall for the Sri Lankan regime. The black flag of the protesters now flies here. The new occupants experience the luxury of a presidential bed. And there have been queues to take a dip in the president's pool.

  The fact we, along with these people, can walk around the palace at our leisure tells us power in Sri Lanka no longer lies in the hands of the president, but it's not yet in the hands of the people, because the military still surrounds this place. Heavily armed guards are still overseeing this delicate revolution.

  Police have already fired tear gas on protesters. The guns haven't gone away, but people here tell me they are simply no longer scared. With no gas for stoves, people in Sri Lanka now buy wood to cook in the streets. Community kitchens feed those without fuel and food.

  Disala Rodrigo has been camped outside this palace since in April. Now she's inside the president's old gym.

• Disala Rodrigo, Protester (through translator):

  We don't have gasoline to cook. Even if we had induction electric cookers, we don't have electricity. There's a power cut going on every day.

  So that's the main reason why I'm here.

• Peter Smith:

  Sri Lanka's president has been in hiding and has briefed that he will resign on Wednesday. The people say they will believe it when they see it. Until then, they stay put and hold on to hope.

• Judy Woodruff:

  That report from Peter Smith of Independent Television News.