Official announcement on July 15 after verifying the authenticity of the emailed document
Official announcement on July 15 after verifying the authenticity of the emailed document
Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa sent his resignation letter by email from Singapore on Thursday, the parliamentary speaker’s office said, postponing an official announcement on Friday to verify the “authenticity and validity” of the document.
The development came a day after Mr Gotabaya, who came to power in 2019 with a thumping election victory, left the country and sought refuge on two other islands, as massive anti-government protests escalated over the past weekend. He was sent to Maldives by Sri Lankan military aircraft early Wednesday. He arrived in Singapore on Thursday evening, the country’s foreign ministry confirmed.
Mr Gotabaya was allowed to enter Singapore “on a private visit”, the city-state’s foreign ministry said. “They have not sought asylum, nor have they been granted any asylum,” the ministry said.
Due to the delay in the receipt of the President’s resignation letter, Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abhayawardana’s office said that Parliament would not be convened on Friday, as had been announced.
Once accepted, Mr. Gotabaya’s resignation, taking responsibility for the country’s worst economic downturn since independence in 1948, was a resounding victory for civilian protests demanding “Gota go home”. will signal. The powerful leader was forced to flee and leave. Furious protesters stormed his office and home on Saturday as a deepening crisis engulfed citizens scrambling for essentials, amid acute shortages and hyperinflation.
For nearly 100 days, protesters have camped in a tent town adjacent to the President’s Secretariat, which is located along the Galle Face, Colombo’s seafront. They faced extreme weather, crippling fuel shortages and violence perpetrated by supporters of the ruling party on 9 May.
Mr Gotabaya will be the last of Rajapaksa to resign following his brothers, including former prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, who had previously stepped down in the face of fierce opposition from the ruling clan.
Unprecedented resistance to Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka’s most formidable political brand for more than 15 years, has decisively eliminated the First Family from political prominence for the foreseeable future. Now, protesters are demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who was appointed acting president on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Maldivian Speaker and former President Mohamed Nasheed announced Mr Gotabaya’s resignation on Twitter, minutes before the Sri Lankan speaker announced the receipt of the letter. Maldivian media had previously reported that Mr Nasheed had received Mr Gotabaya at the airport and held talks before his departure, even as protesters in Male called on his government for not “protecting criminals”. said.
“President GR has resigned. I am hopeful that Sri Lanka can now move on. I believe that if the President was still in Sri Lanka and fearing to lose his life, he would not have resigned. I appreciate the thoughtful work of the Government of Maldives. My best wishes to the people of Sri Lanka,” Mr Nasheed said in a tweet.
Opposition pulled up for delay
Sri Lanka’s political opposition criticized the delay in the president’s resignation. Rauf Hakim, opposition MP and leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, said, “If this is indeed true, I am amazed at the irony of what has happened.” “Someone who has come to power on the platform of national security has fled the country for his own safety, fearing his own people. Had he had the foresight to step down at the right time, this fate would not have happened to him. He has defamed himself and defamed the entire country.” Hindu.
Furthermore, it was “disturbing” that Mr Gotabaya handed over the reins to “another person despised by the people”, Mr Hakim said, referring to Mr Wickremesinghe. “He is oblivious to the ground reality… He too will be infamous in the near future.”
Colombo legislator and Tamil Progressive Alliance leader Mano Ganesan said the Speaker should “immediately act” on the President’s letter and initiate the constitutional process to elect a new President. “The president repeatedly told us [party leaders] In the last five days that he had not yet received the letter from the President. Now that it has come, they should confirm it and present it in the meeting of party leaders tomorrow [July 15]so that we can take the next steps faster,” he added Hindu,