Sri Lankan Speaker officially announces resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has resigned Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena officially announced on Friday two days after the embattled leader fled the country in the face of massive protests against his government for mishandling the economy that bankrupted the countryThe 73yearold leader on Thursday emailed his resignation letter to the Speaker soon after he was allowed by Singapore to enter the citystate on a private visitOn Friday morning Speaker Abeywardena formally announced that President Rajapaksa has resigned after confirming the authenticity of the resignation letter emailed to himAlso read Sri Lankans in Maldives protest against exPresident Gotabaya RajapaksaI have received the resignation letter sent by President Rajapaksa Accordingly the president has resigned with effect from July 14 he saidIn a press statement the Speaker said that Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will act as interim president till the conclusion of the process of electing a new president by parliamentHe urged the public to allow a peaceful environment for all lawmakers to take part in the process which should finish within seven daysI urge for cooperation from all party leaders public officials and security officials I earnestly request the public to allow for a peaceful environment within which all parliamentarians would be free to act according to their conscience he saidThe Sri Lankan Parliament will meet on SaturdayThe Speaker had received the resignation letter from Rajapaksa through the Sri Lanka High Commission in Singapore on Thursday night However he wanted to make the official announcement after the verification process and legal formalities his media secretary Indunil Abeywardena had saidOn Saturday Rajapaksa had announced to step down on July 13 after thousands of protesters stormed his official residence blaming him for the unprecedented economic crisis that has brought the country to its kneesHe however fled to the Maldives without resigning from his office From Maldives he went to Singapore on ThursdayA spokesperson for Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Rajapaksa has been allowed entry into Singapore on a private visitHe has not asked for asylum and neither has he been granted any asylum the spokesperson said on Thursday adding Singapore generally does not grant requests for asylumRajapaksa was the first person with the army background to be elected as Sri Lankas President in 2019Under the Sri Lankan Constitution if both the president and prime minister resign the Speaker of parliament will serve as acting president for a maximum of 30 daysThe Parliament will elect a new president within 30 days from one of its members who will hold the office for the remaining two years of the current termThe official announcement of Rajapaksas resignation comes a day after antigovernment protesters vacated some of the administrative buildings including thePresidents House and the PM Office they have been occupying since April 9 demanding Rajapaksas ousterRajapaksa who had promised to resign on Wednesday instead appointed Prime Minister Wickremesinghe as the Acting President hours after he fled to the Maldives escalating the political crisis and triggering a fresh wave of protests in the island nationPrime Minister Wickremesinghe on Wednesday asked the Speaker to nominate a Prime Minister who is acceptable to both the Government and OppositionPresident Rajapakas brothers former prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and exfinance minister Basil Rajapaksa on Thursday gave an undertaking to theSupreme Court through their lawyers that they will not leave the country until the Fundamental Rights petition filed against them is heard on FridayA fivejudge bench of Lankan Supreme Court comprising Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya Justice Buwaneka Aluwihare Justice Priyantha Jayawardena Justice Vijith Malalgoda and Justice LTB Dehideniya are scheduled to hear on Friday the petition against the two members of the erstwhile powerful Rajapaksa familyMahinda the patriarch of the Rajapaksa clan resigned from the post of prime minister on May 9 hours after his supporters attacked antigovernment protesters outside President Rajapaksas officeThe 76yearold former strongman was barred by a Sri Lankan court from travelling abroad in May in view of investigations against them for the deadly attack on antigovernment protesters in ColomboBasil a US passport holder resigned as finance minister in early April as street protests intensified against shortages of fuel food and other necessities and quit his seat in parliament in JuneOn Thursday the Sri Lankan Army in a statement urged the protesters to desist from violence immediately or be prepared to face the consequences warning that the security forces are legitimately empowered to exercise forceAt least 84 people were hospitalized when protesters clashed with the security forces at the PM office and at the main access junction to Parliament on Wednesday after President Rajapaksa fled the country The police fired tear gas and water cannons at the mob who were trying to break barriers and enter the restricted zoneSri Lanka a country of 22 million people is under the grip of an unprecedented economic turmoil the worst in seven decades leaving millions struggling to buy food medicine fuel and other essentialsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever