Sri Lanka President steps down officially
- Gotabaya Rajapaksa sends resignation letter soon after landing in Singapore
- Letter emailed through the SL High Commission in Singapore
- Speaker to formally announce resignation today after authenticating letter
- PM waits in the wings to take oath as Acting President
- Opposition parties except JVP agree to back Sajith Premadasa for post of PM in all-party Government
- SLPP says it will not field a candidate when Parliament votes to select a successor to GR
- Calling for nominations for and selection of new President to complete Gotabaya’s term may take longer
Sri Lanka’s Parliamentary Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena said President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has officially stepped down from his post.
He made the announcement speaking to reporters from his official residence, earlier on Friday.
Abeywardena said as per Article 38 (1) of the constitution he received the letter of resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa , on Friday (15).
“Gotabaya Rajapaksa has stepped down legally from his post from the 14th of July 2022 and the constitutional process to elect a new President will commence from this moment,” he said.
“Until the process is complete, the duties and functions of the President will be discharged by the Prime Minister as per the provisions of the constitution.”
The Speaker said the election of the new President will take place as per the provisions of the Presidential Elections (Special Provisions) Act (No. 2 of 1981) and Article 40 of the constitution of Sri Lanka.
He said the process will be completed expeditiously, and the process will take place in complete transparency complying with all democratic norms.
The Speaker has appealed to the public as well as all party leaders, state officials, and security forces to support this process.
He said within seven days all responsible officials will be involved in completing the process, and Parliament will convene on 16th July 2022.
Party leaders had earlier agreed to hold the election to elect a new President for 20 July but this may be delayed as an earlier decision for Parliament to meet today has been postponed. The House will now meet on Tuesday as scheduled when the Speaker will inform the House that a vacancy has occurred in the post of President and fix a date to call for nomination.
In a related development representatives of several parties including the SJB, SLFP, the independent group within the SLPP, TNA that met yesterday decided to inform the Speaker that they will nominate Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa for the post of Prime Minister of the all-party Government that is being mooted to overcome the economic crises facing the country. The JVP did not attend the meeting.
