Sri Lanka: Prime Minister appointed acting president

He was sworn in today as its interim president Sri Lanka the Prime Minister of the country of Lanka Ranil Wickremesinghe, replacing Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who resigned after fleeing abroad. As per the Constitution, Wickremesinghe was sworn in in the presence of Chief Justice Janyantha Jayasuriya.

Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana announced this morning that he had accepted the resignation of Rajapaksa, who is now in Singapore, two days after he fled Sri Lanka under pressure from protesters.

Parliament will on July 20 elect a lawmaker to succeed Rajapaksa as president until the end of his term in November 2024, the chamber’s president added.

Nominations for the presidency will be accepted until July 19, and MPs will vote the following day. Rajapaksa is the first president of Sri Lanka to resign since 1978 when the country adopted the presidential system.

Source: News Beast

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