He maintained he was committed to safeguarding democracy and promised to establish law and order in the protests-stricken country.
ADVERTISEMENTSri Lankan lawmakers met Saturday to begin choosing a new leader to serve the rest of the term abandoned by the president, who fled abroad and resigned after mass protests over the country’s economic collapse.
A day earlier, Sri Lanka’s prime minister was sworn in as interim president until Parliament elected a successor to Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled abroad and resigned after mass protests over the country’s economic collapse.
The new President Ranil Wickremesinghe could appoint a new prime minister, who would then have to be approved by Parliament.
Wickremesinghe had already taken on the role after Rajapaksa fled the country, following the Sri Lankan constitution enabling the PM to automatically take over the president's office in case it is necessary.
Parliament’s secretary general, Dhammika Dasanayake, said during a brief session on Saturday that nominations for the election of the new president would be heard on Tuesday, followed by a vote on Wednesday in case of more than one candidate.
Dasanayake also read Rajapaksa’s resignation letter out loud in Parliament.
In the letter, Rajapaksa says he was stepping down following requests by the people of Sri Lanka and political party leaders. He notes that the economic crisis was looming even when he took office in 2019 and was aggravated by frequent lockdowns during the coronavirus pandemic.
Wickremesinghe: True protesters would not get involved in clashes
Security around the Parliament building in the capital, Colombo, was heightened on Saturday with armed masked soldiers on guard and roads near the building closed to the public.
In a televised statement on Friday, Wickremesinghe said he would initiate steps to change the constitution to curb presidential powers and strengthen Parliament, restore law and order and take legal action against “insurgents”.
It was unclear to whom he was referring, although he said true protesters would not have gotten involved in clashes on Wednesday night near Parliament, where many soldiers reportedly were injured.
"There is a big difference between protesters and insurgents. We will take legal action against insurgents,” he said.
Wickremesinghe became acting president after Rajapaksa fled Sri Lanka on Wednesday and flew first to the Maldives and then to Singapore. Many protesters insisted that Wickremesinghe too should step aside.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka’s opposition leader, who is seeking the presidency, vowed to “listen to the people” and to hold Rajapaksa accountable.
“That’s what we should do. That is our function — catching those who looted Sri Lanka. That should be done through proper constitutional, legal, democratic procedures,” Premadasa said.
End of Rajapaksa political family
The protests underscored the dramatic fall of the Rajapaksa political clan that has ruled Sri Lanka for the past decades.
The Rev. Jeewantha Peiris, a Catholic priest and protest leader, said the country had "come through a hard journey”.
“We are happy as a collective effort because this struggle of Sri Lanka was participated by all the citizens of Sri Lanka, even diaspora of Sri Lanka," he said.
Sri Lanka remains in a state of crisis, and the military warned Thursday that it had the powers to respond in case of chaos — a message some found ominous.
ADVERTISEMENTThe speaker urged the public to “create a peaceful atmosphere" for the democratic process and for Parliament to "function freely and conscientiously.”
Sri Lanka is seeking help from the International Monetary Fund and other creditors, but its finances are so poor that even obtaining a bailout has proven difficult, Wickremesinghe recently said.
The protesters accuse Rajapaksa and his powerful political family of siphoning money from government coffers, further exacerbating the financial crisis.
Maduka Iroshan, 26, a university student and protester, said he was “thrilled" that Rajapaksa had quit, because he “ruined the dreams of the young generation.”
'This is something amazing'
Months of protests reached a frenzied peak last weekend when demonstrators stormed the president’s home and office and Wickremesinghe's official residence. On Wednesday, they seized his office.
ADVERTISEMENTThe demonstrators initially vowed to stay until a new government was in place, but they shifted tactics Thursday, apparently concerned that an escalation in violence could undermine their message following clashes outside Parliament that left dozens injured.
Protester Mirak Raheem noted the lack of violence and said the work was far from over.
“This is really something amazing, the fact that it happened on the back of largely peaceful protest. But obviously this is just a beginning,” Raheem said, citing work to rebuild the economy and restore public confidence in the political system.
Rajapaksa and his wife slipped away in the night aboard a military plane early Wednesday. On Thursday, he went to Singapore, according to the city-state’s Foreign Ministry.
It said he had not requested asylum, and it was unclear if he would stay or move on. He previously obtained medical services there, including undergoing heart surgery.
ADVERTISEMENTSince Sri Lankan presidents are protected from arrest while in power, Rajapaksa likely wanted to leave while he still had constitutional immunity and access to the plane.
As a military strategist whose brutal campaign helped end the country’s 26-year civil war, Rajapaksa and his brother, who was president at the time, were once hailed by the island’s Buddhist Sinhalese majority.
Despite accusations of wartime atrocities, including ordering military attacks on ethnic Tamil civilians and abducting journalists, Rajapaksa remained popular among many Sri Lankans. He has continually denied the allegations.