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SRI LANKAN PRESIDENT CONFIRMS RESIGNATION PM OFFICE SAYS

SRI LANKAN PRESIDENT CONFIRMS RESIGNATION PM OFFICE SAYS
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Ekeomah Atuonwu

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa will step down on Wednesday, according to the speaker of parliament, after Saturday’s massive protests following a crippling economic crisis. However, Rajapaksa has not publicly stated his intentions.

The Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, has said that he too will step down to make way for an all-party transitional administration.

Crowds will continue to occupy the president’s and prime minister’s Colombo mansions, according to protest movement leaders, until they resign from their positions.

Crowds will continue to occupy the president’s and prime minister’s Colombo mansions, according to protest movement leaders, until they resign from their positions /AFP/

When the protestors barged into the premises, Rajapaksa and Wickremesinghe weren’t at home and haven’t been seen in public since Friday. Their whereabouts remain unknown.

Crowds will continue to occupy the president’s and prime minister’s Colombo mansions, according to protest movement leaders, until they resigned from their positions /AFP/

Three suspects have been detained, according to police, after setting fire on Wickremesinghe’s private residence in a wealthy Colombo district.

The next stage, according to constitutional experts, would be for the speaker to be named as interim president and for parliament to vote for a new president within 30 days to fill Rajapaksa’sterm, which was set to expire in 2024.

A day after the president and prime minister made their initial resignation offers, Sri Lanka’s opposition parties gathered on Sunday to form a new government.

Crowds will continue to occupy the president’s and prime minister’s Colombo mansions, according to protest movement leaders, until they resigned from their positions /AFP/

Ordinary Sri Lankans have mainly blamed Rajapaksa for the collapse of the tourism-dependent economy, which was hammered badly by the Covid-19 pandemic and a ban on chemical fertilisers that was later reversed.

Government finances were crippled by mounting debt and lavish tax breaks given by the Rajapaksa regime. Foreign exchange reserves were quickly depleted as oil prices rose.

Crowds will continue to occupy the president’s and prime minister’s Colombo mansions, according to protest movement leaders, until they resigned from their positions /AFP/

The country barely has any dollars left to import fuel, which has been severely rationed, and long lines have formed in front of shops selling cooking gas. Headline inflation in the country of 22 million hit 54.6 percent last month, and the central bank has warned that it could rise to 70 percent in the coming months.

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Ekeomah Atuonwu

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