Former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s resignation was accepted by parliament on Friday after he fled to Singapore via the Maldives to escape anti-government protesters who had seized his official residence and offices. More than 100 police and security personnel with assault rifles were deployed on the approach road to parliament on Saturday, manning barricades and a water cannon to prevent any unrest. Columns of security forces patrolled another approach road to parliament, although there were no signs of protesters. Lawmakers are scheduled to elect a new president within a week, with six-time prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, a Rajapaksa ally who is his party’s sole representative in parliament, sworn in as acting president until then. Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana promised a swift and transparent political process. Parliamentary Secretary-General Dhammika Dasanayake said during a brief session on Saturday that nominations to elect a new speaker will be heard on Tuesday and if there is more than one candidate, lawmakers will vote on Wednesday. Dasanayake also read aloud Gotabaya’s resignation letter to parliament. In the letter, Rajapaksa says he is resigning following demands from the Sri Lankan people and political party leaders. He notes that the economic crisis was looming even when he took office in 2019 and was exacerbated by frequent lockdowns during the coronavirus pandemic. Wickremesinghe, who protesters also want out, was chosen as the ruling party’s candidate for president on Friday, raising the prospect of further unrest should he be elected. The opposition presidential candidate is Sajith Premadasa, while the potential dark horse is senior ruling party lawmaker Dullas Alahapperuma. Street protests over Sri Lanka’s economic meltdown simmered for months before boiling over a week ago, when hundreds of thousands of people occupied government buildings in Colombo, blaming the Rajapaksa family and allies for runaway inflation, shortages of basic goods and corruption. Multi-day fuel queues have become the norm in the island nation of 22 million, while foreign exchange reserves have dwindled to near zero and headline inflation hit 54.6% last month. Sri Lanka received the first of three fuel shipments on Saturday, Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera said. These were the first shipments to arrive in the country in about three weeks. A second shipment of diesel will also arrive on Saturday, with petrol being shipped by Tuesday. “Payments completed for all 3,” the minister tweeted. With the Associated Press
