Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in as the nation’s acting president Friday following the resignation of Gotabaya Rajapaksa a day earlier.
Wickremesinghe will serve as interim president until Sri Lanka’s Parliament appoints a successor to carry out the remainder of Rajapaksa’s term that ends in 2024. His temporary ascension to the presidency comes as the nation is mired in a deep economic crisis and massive protests that have threatened the stability of the government.
SRI LANKAN PRESIDENT RESIGNS ONE DAY AFTER FLEEING COUNTRY
Last week, Wickremesinghe agreed to step down from his post as prime minister, caving to demands from party leaders in Parliament that he and Rajapaksa both resign. He did not offer a specific timeline for his resignation but said it would come after the country’s parties agree on a new government.
The demand for Wickremesinghe’s resignation from the prime minister post came amid colossal protests in which demonstrators stormed the president’s residence against the backdrop of collapsing economic conditions.
Current situation of Sri Lanka President’s swimming pool pic.twitter.com/ieKF8YVGGL
— NewsWire ?? (@NewsWireLK) July 10, 2022
Rajapaksa had appointed Wickremesinghe to serve as interim president. The former president’s family has ruled Sri Lanka for nearly two decades. But amid unrest and protest in the country, he fled to Male in the Maldives Wednesday, according to the Associated Press.
Wickremesinghe had pledged to modify the country’s policies in order to curtail the president’s powers while bolstering the Parliament’s influence, the Associated Press reported. He has also vowed to restore order to the country and push back against perpetrators of violence in the protests.
“There is a big difference between protesters and insurgents. We will take legal action against insurgents,” he said.
Wickremesinghe first assumed office as prime minister in May and had hoped to ease the country’s hardships. The Parliament could appoint a new president within the next seven days, Sri Lanka’s speaker of the Parliament told the Associated Press.
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Sri Lanka is currently embroiled in economic chaos, facing surging import prices, upward-spiraling inflation, food scarcity, and struggles to pay down foreign debts. As a result, the country has become increasingly dependent on aid from other countries. All of this has fomented social upheaval.
Many experts fear that Sri Lanka could be a harbinger of events to come in other developing nations. At least 38 developing nations are struggling to pay down their debts, the International Monetary Fund estimates.
