Sri Lanka’s parliament Archives

Sri Lanka to get new president next week amid worst crisis since independence The island nation is embroiled in an economic and political meltdown with its parliament expected to vote for a new president on 20 July. Source: sbs.com.au Sri Lanka’s parliament will elect a new president on 20 July, its speaker said on Monday, after protesters stormed the residences of the current president and prime minister, who have both offered to quit amid an economic meltdown. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who had overseen a ruthless crushing of the Tamil Tigers insurgents as defence secretary, is set to resign on Wednesday. His brothers and nephew earlier quit as ministers as Sri Lanka began running out of fuel, food and other essentials in the worst crisis since independence from Britain in 1948. Parliament will reconvene on Friday and will vote to elect a new president five days later, Speaker Mahinda Yapa ...

Chaos in Colombo: Sri Lanka’s president and PM to resign after palace stormed Source : thenewdaily.com.au Sri Lanka’s president and prime minister will both step down after a day in which protesters angry about the country’s economic crisis stormed the presidential palace and set the PM’s house on fire. In a dramatic escalation of the country’s woes, thousands descended on the capital Colombo and broke through iron fortifications at the official residence of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Protesters were seen jumping in the pool, lounging in state rooms, laying on beds, making tea and issuing “statements” from the conference room, calling on the president to quit. The president was not home at the time, having been whisked away to a “safe” location. President Rajapaksa announced his resignation hours after the protesters overran his official residence. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had earlier announced he would be stepping aside, and hours later his house ...