Status: 07/15/2022 07:33 a.m
The demonstrators had feared until the end, now the resignation of Sri Lanka’s President Rajapaksa has been officially confirmed. But the political chaos – and above all the serious economic crisis – are far from over.
Sri Lanka’s expatriate President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has officially resigned. Speaker of Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena said in the capital Colombo that he had received the formal letter of resignation by mail and had accepted it. According to his office, Rajapaksa had already emailed the letter on Thursday evening.
As a result of the unprecedented mass protests against the government in Sri Lanka, Rajapaksa and his wife fled to the nearby Maldives in a military plane on Wednesday. Demonstrators had previously stormed the presidential palace and other government buildings, demanding Rajapaksa’s resignation.
However, he did not resign immediately as promised, but fueled the anger of the demonstrators by appointing Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who was also hated by many, as acting president. The demonstrators are calling for the establishment of a unity government to bring the country out of its misery.
Succession should be arranged quickly
On Thursday, the head of state, who had already been deprived of power, flew on to Singapore. The foreign ministry there said Rajapaksa had traveled to the country privately. He had neither sought nor received asylum there.
Now acting President and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe, who has been acting during Rajapaksa’s absence, is to be sworn in again as interim President. Parliament will meet on Saturday to set a date for the election of a new president.
Worst economic crisis in decades
The island state south of India with its approximately 22 million inhabitants is going through the worst economic crisis in decades. There is a lack of fuel, gas for cooking, medicine and food.
There are many reasons for this: the main ones to be mentioned are economic mismanagement and a lack of income from tourism, especially as a result of the corona pandemic. The heavily indebted country lacks the money to import important goods.