Sri Lankan political parties agreed on Monday to appoint a new interim president on July 20 to put an end to the power vacuum that will be left by the resignation of the still president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, which will take effect on Wednesday.
(Read: Sri Lanka: they will elect a new internal president after Rajapaksa’s resignation)
Rajapaksa announced that he would step down last Saturdayafter thousands of protesters stormed his official residence in Colombo, which he had previously abandoned along with his security forces at the notice of new massive protests.
His resignation was added to the one announced hours earlier by the former Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, but which has not yet been formalized, to make way for a Government of national unity capable of overcoming the serious economic crisis that the island nation is going through.
The demonstrations in Sri Lanka promoted by the management of the economic crisis, causes thousands of protesters to storm the house and office of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.
Take note, Spanish politicians, that tallest towers have been seen to fall! pic.twitter.com/MIndTu41w0
— J Sanreu (@JSanreu) July 11, 2022
The crisis
After a meeting of the parties, once Rajapaksa’s resignation had been formalized, The Chamber will receive the nominations on July 19, and “the election will be held on Wednesday 20 to elect a new president,” Sri Lankan Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena said in a statement today.
Immersed in one of the worst economic crises since its independence in 1948, the appointment of a new president is essential for the formation of a new government that closes the negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) a rescue program that allows it to restore the tax stability.
Among the possible candidates for the presidency, the current opposition leader Sajith Premadasa stands out, who contested the 2019 presidential elections against Rajapaksa, in which he was defeated by obtaining 42% of the votes, 10% less than his main rival for power.
However, opposition parties “did not agree on who would lead the unity government, with two names put forward by current opposition leader Sajith Premadasa and others from the ‘independent group’ of MPs who split from the president’s party ( Rajapaksa),” political adviser Aruna Kulatunga told Efe.
Uncertainty of the future
Despite the joy that the announcement of Rajapaksa’s resignation produced among the protesters, news that they had been demanding since the beginning of the protests at the end of March, doubts still invade many of them.
This is the case of Abeysinghe, who one more day went to the nerve center of the protests, in the Galle Force park in front of the Presidential Secretary, and who tells Efe that Rajapaksa’s resignation does not imply that the fuel shortage or other basic goods.
We never cared about food. Now that we are old our children give us money to buy goods. How can we be a burden to them when they are also suffering?
“The only change I hope for is a lower cost of living“, Said this 63-year-old man, who is not sure how successful the new political alliance promoted by the opposition will achieve.
Sri Lanka is going through a serious economic crisis with shortages of medicine, food and fuel, caused in part by heavy debt, mistaken government policies, and the impact of the Easter attacks and the pandemic on tourism. A situation that worries a large part of the population that until now had never feared for its economic condition.
Tourism in the Palace
With President Rajapaksa unaccounted for, and with no one to take up his post until July 20, the citizens of Colombo entertain themselves these days by going to the official residence of the presidentin the capital, to swim in its pool, work out in the gym or simply go for a walk.
This is demonstrated by numerous videos broadcast on social networks, where this Monday large lines of people were observed outside the presidential palace waiting their turn to access it.
Once inside, the scenes are varied, with dozens of people sitting in the armchair in Rajapaksa’s office to mockingly imitate the president, others resting in the bedrooms, and even a father who takes the opportunity to teach his son an advanced piano course, once discovered a piano on the ground floor of the dwelling.
Inside, the corridors and rooms appear crowded with people who, intrigued, go through each of the rooms and take pictures and videos that until last Saturday they would never have imagined were possible.
Hundreds of protesters entered the president’s official residence last Saturday morning after breaking the security perimeter, despite the fact that the police used tear gas to prevent the intrusion.
The president had previously left the area, alerted by the security forces about the massive demonstration called for days in Colombo, and his whereabouts are currently unknown.
Despite this, Rajapaksa officially reported his resignation on Monday as of next Wednesday, as announced hours after the assault on his official residence. “Please, Mr. Gotabaya, go at least now. you ruined the country. You did no good for the country,” a woman in the garden of the house told Sri Lankan Newsfirst television.
Protesters demanding the resignation of the Sri Lankan president refused to leave the presidential palace on Sunday after they stormed the residence the day before, forcing the president to flee and announce his resignation this week. All the details ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/u9BpKsW4jp
— THE TIME (@THETIEMPO) July 11, 2022
Since the day of the assault, hundreds of people have been inside the house, taking relaxing baths in the presidential pool, trying the gym machines or even in the residence’s bedrooms, according to images on local television and social networks.
Next to the Presidential Secretary’s building, protesters also entered the official Temple Trees residence of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and set fire to his private home.
Against the backdrop of the massive demonstrations and before protesters set fire to his home, Wickremesinghe announced his resignation as prime minister just two months after taking office.
INTERNATIONAL WRITING
*With information from EFE and AFP
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