Sri Lanka’s prime minister was sworn in Friday as an interim president until Parliament elects a successor to Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled abroad and resigned after Sri Lanka prime minister was sworn in as interim president after mass protests over the country’s economic collapse.
Lawmakers were to convene Saturday to choose a new leader who would serve the remainder of Rajapaksa’s term, which ends in 2024.
People took to the streets to celebrate the resignation of the president. The Parliament speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana has promised a swift and transparent political process that should be done within a week.
The new president could appoint a new prime minister, who would have to be approved by Parliament. After Rajapaksa resigned, there is now much pressure on the prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe.
Wickremesinghe became acting president after Rajapaksa fled Sri Lanka on Wednesday, flying first to the Maldives and then to Singapore. The prime minister’s office said Wickremesinghe was sworn in Friday as interim president by Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya.
Sri Lanka has run short of money to pay for imports of necessities such as food, fertilizer, medicine, and fuel for its 22 million people.
