Protesters ranging from Catholic nuns to trade unionists gathered at the makeshift site along the seafront promenade in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo, defying a curfew imposed in recent days to press their demands for President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to quit.

“We need our main demand to be achieved: the president should resign. There’ll be no agreement or solution before that,” said Hasintha Wijesekara, 39, an environmental scientist and member of a university teachers’ union, who was taking turns with colleagues to keep vigil at the camp.

Rajapaksa, heir of Sri Lanka’s most powerful political dynasty, has clung to office in the face of a growing protest movement and economic meltdown. Last week he appointed as prime minister former rival Ranil Wickremesinghe, a septuagenarian on his fifth term in the role, in a desperate effort to stay in power.