Sri Lankan PM sworn in as interim president after Rajapaksa resigns

July 15 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, Ranil Wickremesinghe, was sworn in this Friday as interim president after former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa presented his resignation on Thursday after fleeing the country amid massive popular mobilizations against the authorities due to the very serious crisis. economy that crosses the island.

Wickremesinghe has taken office in an act before the president of the Supreme Court, Jayantha Jayasuriya, after Rajapaksa himself appointed him interim president after fleeing the country to the Maldives, from where he traveled to Singapore on Thursday, according to what he has collected the Sri Lankan daily ‘Daily Mirror’.

The prime minister has assured in recent days that he will resign once an inclusive government is formed after Rajapaksa’s resignation, although the protesters, who have been mobilizing for weeks to protest against the economic crisis and the worsening quality of life, have demanded also the resignation of Wickremesinghe.

For his part, the President of Parliament, Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, has confirmed that the new president will be elected on July 20 by the legislative body, a date previously chosen by the leaders of the political parties with representation. Yapa Abeywardena himself confirmed early this Friday that Rajapaksa’s resignation letter has been received by the authorities, which implies his effective resignation since July 14.

Rajapaksa thus gives in after several months of protests over the increase in prices, the lack of food, medicine and fuel, which has put the small Asian island in front of its worst economic crisis since it gained independence from the British colonial yoke.

The popular revolution in Sri Lanka has thus forced the definitive downfall of the Rajapaksa family, after Gotabaya forced his brother Mahinda to step down as prime minister in early May in a superfluous attempt to quell the protests.