Sri Lanka Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in as the acting president after Gotabaya Rajapaksa officially resigned from the post on Wednesday. The 73-year-old leader emailed his resignation letter to Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena. A new president will now be appointed within seven days, said Abeywardena on Friday. Till then, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will continue as the acting president.

Rajapaksa had announced to step down on July 13 after thousands of anti-government protesters stormed his official residence last week. They blamed him for the unprecedented economic crisis that has brought the country to its knees. However, Rajapaksa fled to the Maldives and then to Singapore without resigning from his office. Now, as Rajapaksa has left the post, the Speaker has urged the public to allow a peaceful environment for all lawmakers to take part in the process which should finish within seven days.

Here are latest developments from Sri Lanka as the island nation struggles with economic as well as political crisis:

>> Ranil Wickremesinghe sworn in as Acting-President a short while ago by Sri Lankan Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya.

#WATCH | Ranil Wickremesinghe sworn in as Acting-President a short while ago by Sri Lankan Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya#SriLanka pic.twitter.com/odjNmfd4cf

— ANI (@ANI) July 15, 2022 >> Sri Lankan Parliament will convene on Saturday to start the process of electing a new president. It had earlier decided to convene on Friday. However, due to delayed resignation by the president, the date was later posted to Saturday. According to the official statement last week, the new Sri Lankan president was to be announced on July 20.

>> Gotabaya Rajapaksa was allowed by Singapore to enter the city-state on a "private visit". A spokesperson for Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Rajapaksa has been "allowed entry into Singapore on a private visit". He has not asked for asylum and neither has he been granted any asylum, the spokesperson said, adding that Singapore generally does not grant requests for asylum.

ALSO READ | Sri Lanka declares state of emergency after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa flees to Maldives

>> Amid the civil unrest, the government imposed a curfew in Colombo from 12 pm on July 14 to 5 am on July 15 in a bid to prevent any unrest. Local media showed armoured vehicles with soldiers atop patrolling the city's streets. The military said troops were empowered to use force to protect people and public property.

>> Police said one person was killed and 84 injured in clashes between riot police and protesters on Wednesday near the parliament and prime minister's office, as people demanded the ouster of both Rajapaksa and Wickremesinghe. The army said two soldiers were seriously injured in an attack by protesters near Parliament on Wednesday.

>> Protests against the economic crisis have simmered for months and came to a frenzied peak last weekend when hundreds of thousands of people took over government buildings in Colombo. "We have to make society better than this. The government is not solving people's problems," a protester was quoted as saying.

ALSO READ | Sri Lanka declares bankruptcy, what happens next?

(Edited by : Akriti Anand)

First Published:Jul 15, 2022 11:49 AM IST