Last minute: Last week, Sri Lankan Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena announced she would resign after angry protesters stormed President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s presidential residence and set fire to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s home. Saying that Rajapaksa will resign on Wednesday, Abeywardena said, “The decision to resign was taken to ensure a peaceful transfer of power in the country. I demand the citizens to preserve peace.”
THE PRESIDENT LEFT THE COUNTRY
The latest claim is the kind that will confuse things even more. Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who is expected to resign on Wednesday after protests erupted due to the economic crisis, allegedly left the country.
HIS SISTER HAS BEEN DENIED FROM THE COUNTRY
Former Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa, brother of Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, was not allowed to leave the country. It is not known where Rajapaksa, who is also a US citizen, plans to go. The Sri Lanka Immigration and Immigration Officers Association said in a statement that its members refused to serve Rajapaksa in the VIP lounge at Colombo Airport.
NEW PRESIDENT WILL BE ELECTED ON JULY 20
Sri Lankan Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena announced that the parliament will meet again on July 15 and will elect the new head of state on July 20.
Abeywardena said, “The candidates for the next head of state will be presented to the parliament on July 19. On July 20, the parliament will vote to elect the new head of state. At the party leaders’ meeting held today, to ensure the formation of a new government consisting of all parties in line with the Constitution and to maintain basic services. It was agreed that this was necessary for the
LATEST SITUATION IN SRI LANKA
People in Sri Lanka intensified their protests at the end of March after power cuts found 13 hours a day. There was a clash between the demonstrators gathered around the Sri Lankan Prime Minister’s Office on 9 May and the supporters of the government, and military units were called to duty in the capital Colombo.
A nationwide curfew was declared after the violence, and the government ordered that anyone who damaged public property or others during the protests be shot at.
In the protests that spread across the country, 8 people, including the ruling party deputy and 2 police officers, lost their lives and at least 250 people were injured.
(UAV/AA)