Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has informed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe that he will resign as previously announced, the prime minister’s office said on Monday (July 11).
After Saturday’s (July 9) sweeping protests in the wake of a debilitating economic crisis, the speaker of parliament said Rajapaksa would resign on Wednesday (July 13). However, there has been no direct word from Rajapaksa on his plans.
Rajapaksa and Wickremesinghe were not in their residences when the protesters surged into the buildings and have not been seen in public since Friday (July 8). Their whereabouts are unknown.
The political chaos could complicate efforts to pull Sri Lanka out of its worst economic crisis in seven decades, triggered by a severe shortage of foreign currency that has stalled imports of essentials such as fuel, food and medicines.
The financial meltdown developed after the COVID-19 pandemic hammered the tourism-reliant economy and slashed remittances from overseas workers. It has been compounded by large and growing government debt, rising oil prices and a seven-month ban on importing chemical fertilizers last year that devastated agriculture. Soaring inflation, at a record 54.6% in June and expected to hit 70% in the coming months, has heaped hardship on the population.
(Reuters)