Have not yet received President's resignation: Lankan parliament speaker

Shortly after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa landed in Maldivian capital Male on a Sri Lanka Air Force plane, the crisis-hit island country's Parliament Speaker on Wednesday said that he is yet to receive a letter of resignation.

Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena said has not the resignation letter of the embattled President who departed from Sri Lanka hours before he was expected to resign amid widespread protests in the country which is facing a severe shortage of fuel and other essential supplies.

In an exclusive conversation with ANI, Abeywardena said, "We haven't received President Gotabaya's resignation yet, but we hope to get one in a day."

 

The 73-year-old had gone into hiding after crowds of protestors stormed his residence on July 9 and he had announced that he will resign on July 13. Sri Lankan authorities today confirmed that Gotabaya had flown to Maldives with his wife and two bodyguards after after full approval of the country's Defence Ministry.

In a statement, the Sri Lankan Air Force also said that the move was done under the executive powers vested with the president.

"According to the request of the Government in accordance with the powers vested in an Executive President in the Constitution of Sri Lanka, His Excellency the President and the Lady along with two bodyguards from Katunayake International Airport to the Maldives subject to the full approval of the Ministry of Defense subject to immigration, customs and all other laws at Katunayake International Airport. An Air Force flight was given early in the morning on 13th July 2022 to depart," Sri Lankan Air Force Media Director said in a statement.

Gotabaya landed at the Velana International Airport in the Maldives early Wednesday. The Prime Minister's Office also confirmed that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has left the country.Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is scheduled to be sworn in today as interim President till a new President is elected by Parliament on July 20 and nominations for the presidency will be called for on July 19.

Sri Lanka is facing the worst economic crisis since its independence which has led to massive protests demanding the ouster of Gotabaya as the President. Sri Lanka's speaker of parliament Abeywardena has said political party leaders have decided to elect a new president on July 20 through a vote in parliament.

Thousands of people stormed into the President's House in Fort on July 9. The dramatic visuals also came from PM's official residence where they were seen playing carrom board, sleeping on the sofa, enjoying in park premises, and preparing food for dinner.

Sri Lanka is suffering its worst economic crisis since gaining independence in 1948, which comes on the heels of successive waves of COVID-19, threatening to undo years of development progress and severely undermining the country's ability to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The economic crisis will push families into hunger and poverty - some for the first time - adding to the half a million people who the World Bank estimates have fallen below the poverty line because of the pandemic.