Colombo: Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has formally resigned, the parliamentary speaker confirmed, after a high voltage politically dramatic week which saw the helpless leader flee the country after his presidential palace and offices were rocked by protesters.
The official announcement of Rajapaksa’s resignation was made in a televised address by the speaker, Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, on Friday morning.
Rajapaksa is currently in Singapore, where he fled to on Wednesday, via the Maldives. His resignation letter was sent late on Thursday night, first via email and then the original dispatched on a diplomatic flight, but the formal announcement was delayed until Friday while the speakers’ office verified the letter.
Rajapaksa’s decision to flee without resigning had left Sri Lanka in a state of political limbo for more than 36 hours, and tensions had run high in the country, which remained in a state of emergency.
The speaker confirmed that, according to the constitution, the Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, would be sworn in as an interim president on Friday and will hold the position until a new vote is held by MPs in parliament next week.
The process of voting in and confirming a new president is likely to take a week, said the speaker.
Abeywardena appealed that all political party leaders “extend their support” for a smooth selection of a new president, and to “uphold democracy” during the transition.
Parliament will now reconvene on Saturday, to begin the process of installing a new all-party “unity” government, made up of a multitude of political parties. The opposition parties said they would meet this morning and put forward a new name for prime minister, probably Sajith Premadasa, leader of the largest opposition party.
The fall of Rajyapaksha as president follows months of sustained protests calling for him to step down. He had ruled alongside six members of his politically-powerful family, including his brother Mahinda Rajapaksa who was prime minister, and his brother Basil Rajapaksa who was finance minister. But while all his family members had been forced to resign in recent months due to public pressure, the president had held the position, much to the anger of protesters on the streets.
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