- Sri Lanka’s expatriate President Gotabaya Rajapaksa officially resigned on Friday.
- Speaker of Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena announced in the capital Colombo that he had received and accepted the formal letter of resignation by mail.
- According to his office, Rajapaksa had already emailed the letter on Thursday evening.
Ranil Wickremesinghe, acting President and Prime Minister during Rajapaksa’s absence, is now to be sworn in again as interim President. Parliament is scheduled to meet on Saturday to set a date for the election of a new president.
Fled to Singapore via the Maldives
Rajapaksa and his wife flew to the nearby Maldives in a military plane on Wednesday. After mass protests, calls for his resignation and a storming of the presidential palace, he left Sri Lanka. He flew on to Singapore on Thursday, the office of now acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe confirmed.
Wickremesinghe, who was also unpopular with demonstrators, was appointed as his temporary successor. Parliament is expected to elect a new head of state next week.
Corona was his undoing
The island state south of India with its approximately 22 million inhabitants is currently experiencing the worst economic crisis in decades. There is a lack of fuel, gas for cooking, medicine and food.
There are many reasons for this: mismanagement in the economy, investments in large, unprofitable projects and a lack of income from tourism, among other things as a result of the corona pandemic.
The heavily indebted country lacks the money to import important goods. As a result of shortages and sharply increased prices, people have been protesting against the political leadership for weeks.