Gotabaya Rajapaksa Resigns by Email from Singapore
After fleeing the country and leaving it in the hands of the Sri Lankan Prime Minister, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has resigned from his office
Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the President of Sri Lanka, has resigned in an email to parliamentary speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, the speaker’s office announced Thursday. Furthermore, the parliament speaker accepted his resignation, which he sent after fleeing to Singapore. During the last some months, the cost of fuel, food, and other basic supplies soared in the country.
After fleeing the country and leaving it in the hands of the Sri Lankan PM, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has resigned from his office. The speaker of the parliament announced that the next president will now be appointed as per the country’s legislation.#SriLanka#SriLankaCrisispic.twitter.com/a4LBfcOuqG
Protestors in the capital, Colombo, were delighted to hear the news of his resignation and started dancing and chanting victory slogans. Earlier on Thursday, Rajapaksa arrived in Singapore after initially flying to the Maldives on Tuesday night. According to the reports, his wife and two bodyguards were with him when he landed in the Maldives.
Abeywardena said that Parliament would meet on Saturday to start the process of picking a new leader for the country, and he would serve out the rest of the former president’s term ending in 2024. Further, he added that the process would likely complete in seven days. The speaker’s office added that it is expecting to receive a resignation letter in hard form, but that would take longer as it would be sent from Singapore.
Is Rajapaksa asked for Asylum?
Sri Lankan President Rajapaksa Resigns by Email from Singapore Source: Web
The Singapore Foreign Ministry statement said Rajapaksa has not asked for asylum, and the government has not granted him asylum. Former President Rajapaksa vowed to resign over the weekend after angry protesters broke into the presidential residence and demanded the end of his family’s ruling reign. A security source in Colombo told CNN that he left Malé for Singapore on board a Saudi flight. Moreover, the flight landed in Singapore at 07:17 pm local time yesterday.
MFA has issued Spokesperson’s Comments in response to media queries on Mr Rajapaksa’s entry into Singapore.
Shortly after the former president left his island nation, demonstrators stormed Acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s office to demand his resignation. However, on Thursday, the acting president granted the country’s armed forces special powers of arrest and ordered them to exercise force if necessary to disperse protestors all over the country, according to army spokesperson Brigadier Nilantha Premaratne.
