Embattled Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has submitted his letter of resignation, the country’s parliamentary speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena confirmed on Friday, transmits MIA.
Addressing the nation in a live television broadcast, the speaker said that Rajapaksa’s resignation had been accepted and that Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe would now be sworn in as Sri Lanka’s acting president until parliament elects a new head of state.
Wickremesinghe was appointed acting president on Wednesday after Rajapaksa fled the country, but must now be reappointed to the post in light of the president’s resignation being officially accepted. The Sri Lankan parliament is due to meet on Saturday to decide a date for the 225-seat legislature to elect a new president.
Rajapaksa fled Sri Lanka for Maldives earlier this week after anti-government protesters stormed his official residence in Colombo as the country continued to suffer from a severe economic crisis and drastic fuel shortages.
