SRI LANKA: The speaker of parliament in crisis-stricken Sri Lanka has accepted a resignation letter from President Gotabaya Rajapaksa after verifying its legitimacy, he informed reporters on Thursday night. Thursday, protesters departed government facilities in Sri Lanka as the ailing president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, emailed his resignation, which activists had been demanding for months.
The resignation occurred one day after President Gotabaya and his wife departed the country, first for the Maldives and then for Singapore. Even though Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who had been serving as Acting President, had ordered curfews after demonstrators stormed his office for the last two days, joyous crowds congregated on the street to celebrate the resignation of President Gotabaya.
In the preceding week, protesters who had invaded government facilities, including the President’s mansion and the Prime Minister’s office, abandoned them, stating that they did not wish to destroy public property, and Sri Lankan armed forces went in to strengthen security.
What then is in store? The country’s legislators have decided to pick a new president on July 20 who would serve until 2024, the remainder of Rajapaksa’s mandate. It is expected that the president would nominate a new prime minister, who must then be accepted by Parliament.
As of Thursday, “Gotabaya has legally resigned,” Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana told reporters after Rajapaksa informed him from Singapore that he was resigning. Currently, an all-party meeting is taking place in the parliament.
Sri Lankans awaited an official declaration announcing the president’s resignation after he fled to Singapore to avoid anti-government demonstrations sparked by the country’s terrible economic situation.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa tendered his resignation late Thursday after landing in Singapore from the Maldives, where he had fled after his palace was overrun by activists over the weekend. Rajapaksa’s resignation after months of demonstrations over what many deemed to be his mishandling of the island nation’s economy, resulted in tremendous suffering for its 22 million inhabitants.
Since Sri Lanka adopted a presidential form of government in 1978, he is the only president to resign. According to Singapore’s foreign ministry, Rajapaksa visited the country on a private visit and did not seek or receive refuge.
Rajapaksa’s move on Wednesday to appoint his ally Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as interim president sparked more demonstrations, with protestors storming parliament and Wickremesinghe’s office to demand his resignation as well.
In an effort to avert additional disturbance, the authorities enforced a curfew in Colombo from midday on Thursday until early morning on Friday. Local media showed soldiers patrolling the city’s streets in armoured vehicles.
Hundreds of thousands of people seized government facilities in Colombo this weekend, bringing months of protests against the economic crisis to a crescendo. They blamed the Rajapaksa family and supporters for runaway inflation, shortages of essential supplies, and corruption.
Sri Lanka has begun preliminary conversations with the International Monetary Fund over a potential rescue loan, but these discussions have been disrupted by the most recent government instability.
