President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country Thursday night under pressure from protesters who were furious at the island nation’s economic collapse. He emailed his resignation on Friday night – a day later than promised, according to a government official.
But with a divided opposition and prevailing confusion over who is responsible, a solution to the country’s many problems does not seem to be in sight despite Rajapaksa’s resignation. The president has also further provoked the masses by making the country’s prime minister, Ranil Wickremasinghe, acting leader.
The protesters are demanding more
Protesters have been fighting for the two politicians to leave and for a unity government to address the economic crisis that has triggered widespread shortages of food, fuel and other necessities.
An aide to the Speaker of the Sri Lankan Parliament states that the Speaker had received the resignation of the President through the Sri Lankan Embassy in Singapore, but there was no immediate official announcement.