Gotabaya Rajapaksa Steps Down as Sri Lanka President, Speaker to Make Official Announcement on Friday

Singapore has confirmed that Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled Sri Lanka with his wife on Wednesday, has been allowed entry into the country (Singapore) on a private visit. According to Singapore foreign ministry, Rajapaksa has neither asked for asylum, nor has he been granted asylum.

Sri Lanka Crisis: Sri Lanka president Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Thursday emailed his resignation letter to the parliamentary speaker. This comes after Singapore confirmed that President Rajapaksa, who fled Sri Lanka with his wife on Wednesday, has been allowed entry into the country (Singapore) on a private visit. According to Singapore foreign ministry, Rajapaksa has neither asked for asylum, nor has he been granted asylum.

To recall, the Sri Lankan Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena had earlier informed Gotabaya Rajapaksa that he should submit his letter of resignation as the President as soon as possible or else he will consider other options to remove him from the office, according to a media report.

On Wednesday, the Parliament Speaker said that the President in a telephone conversation had informed that he would tender his letter of resignation during the day, before midnight. However, he has not done it yet.

Speaker Abeywardena said that he informed President Rajapaksa to submit his letter of resignation as soon as possible, citing that he too is under pressure, News First Lanka reported on Thursday. He said that since an acting President has been appointed, the Office of the Speaker is exploring the legal provisions to consider the option of “have vacated his post” if the President does not tender in his letter of resignation, the report added.

Curfew in Lanka

Meanwhile, in Sri Lanka, the curfew has been imposed from 12 pm on July 14 till 5 am on July 15, within the Colombo District, the government information department announced.

Earlier in the day, “GotaGoGama” protesters announced that they will peacefully hand over government-occupied buildings including President’s House, Presidential Secretariat, and Prime Minister’s Office, aiming to restore peace in the country.

Sri Lanka Army deployed tanks near Parliament on Thursday to prevent protesters from entering the Parliament.

Sri Lankan political parties after holding a discussion will reach a consensus and propose a name for the position of Prime Minister to the Speaker of the Parliament, local media reported.

Sri Lankan MP from Colombo Harsha de Silva said that after holding a discussion a name for the position of Prime Minister will be proposed to the Parliament Speaker Saturday at 10 am.

Taking to Twitter, the MP wrote, “Responding to request by PM Ranil Wickremesinghe to the Sri Lankan Parliament Speaker to propose a name by consensus for PM, opposition parties will today discuss with various parties and groups in government to get such consensus. We will propose this name to the Speaker at 10 am tomorrow.”