Sri Lankan interim government which is set to take control of the nation in turmoil will most likely appoint Sri Lankan parliament speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana as acting president, Hindustan Times reported.
Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana will remain in this role until general elections to elect a new parliament are called. Meanwhile, cabinet minister Wijedasa Rajapaksa said that all cabinet ministers have tendered their resignations to pave the way for an all-party government, news agency Channel4 SL tweeted.
A report by Sri Lankan news outlet Daily Mirror LK citing people familiar with the developments said that presidential and parliamentary elections will be held before March next year.
The appointment of Abeywardana will be temporary lasting for a period of 30 days during which parliament will select a new president.
Wickremesinghe will hold a meeting on Monday evening to discuss fuel shipments and foreign delegations which are due to arrive in the country this week
Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa also said that if he is elected president he will appoint Dullas Allahapperuma as prime minister.
Also earlier on Monday morning, the embattled Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa officially confirmed to prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe that he will resign as promised on Wednesday.
The Rajapaksas are being accused of taking wrong economic decisions which has caused a full-scale collapse in the island-nation. Sri Lanka’s international sovereign bonds(ISBs) debts, high interest loans from China’s EXIM bank and inability to move away from traditional exports like tea and rubber etc have led the nation to this position.
Sri Lanka is under an external debt of over $50 billion.
The opposition parties Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) and Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) have made it clear that neither the Rajapaksas nor Wickremesinghe should return to power.
The whereabouts of president Gotabaya is still unknown. He was out in the seas where the military escorted him when protesters on Saturday stormed his residence.
India and several other nations have extended their full support to Sri Lanka and quashed claims that they will send troops to help restore normalcy.
The Sri Lankan army also refuted reports on social media that there will be a crack down on protesters and said that protesters can continue to protest peacefully without breaking the law.
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