On Friday, speaker of Sri Lanka's parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena said that Gotabaya Rajapaksa has officially resigned as president of Sri Lanka.
"Gotabaya Rajapaksa has officially resigned as President of Sri Lanka since July 14," Mahinda Yapa said.
Earlier, media reported that the signed resignation letter of the president, was received by the speaker by e-mail and handed over to parliamentary lawyers to clarify its legitimacy.
Rajapaksa submitted his letter of resignation on Thursday after landing in Singapore.
On Saturday, the protesters took control of the residences of the president and the prime minister in Colombo, demanding the officials' resignation.
Earlier, speaker of Sri Lanka's parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena announced that the parliament will convene within three days after ousted President Gotabaya Rajapaksa submits his resignation letter to appoint a caretaker government.
Abeywardena said that according to the constitution, the prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, would be sworn in as an interim president on July 15 and will hold the role until a new vote is held by parliament next week. According to the speaker, the process of voting in and confirming countries new president will take seven days.
Rajapaksa, who fled the country on July 12, appointed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as interim president. Wickremesinghe has declared a countrywide state of emergency and a curfew in Colombo.
Sri Lanka's parliament will reconvene on July 16 to begin the process of setting up a new all-party “unity” government.
Prior to Gotabaya Rajapaksa resignation as a president, Sri Lanka was rocked by a wave of mass protests which led to resignation of his six family members including his brother Mahinda Rajapaksa who was prime minister and his brother Basil Rajapaksa who was finance minister. However, at that moment Gotabaya did not resign, which angered the protesters more.
Sri Lanka is mired in a political deadlock caused by the country's worst economic crisis since gaining independence in 1948.
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