Sri Lanka economic crisis: Parliament to elect new president on July 20

Sri Lankan parliamentary speaker said on Monday (July 11) that the country's parliament will reconvene on July 15 and a new president will be elected on July 20. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is planning to resign on Wednesday as the South Asian nation continues to face its worse economic crisis.

In a statement, speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena said that the nominations for the next president will be presented to parliament on 19 July. On 20 July parliament will vote to elect a new president.

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Abeywardena said, "During the party leaders' meeting held today, it was agreed that this was essential to ensure a new all-party government is in place in accordance with the Constitution and to take forward essential services."

Sri Lanka in crisis

Sri Lanka has suffered through months of food and fuel shortages, lengthy blackouts and galloping inflation as the nation ran out of foreign currency to import vital goods.

The magnitude of the protests changed on Saturday (July 9) as hundreds of thousands of people in Colombo stormed the presidential palace, demanding Rajapaksa take responsibility for shortages of medicines, food and fuel.

Protesters forced President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to agree to resign. After that, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe also said he would step down to allow an all-party interim government to take over.

What will happen next?

Sri Lanka's constitution dictates that should a president resign, the country's prime minister will assume the role. But incumbent Ranil Wickremesinghe has said he too will stand down.

It was therefore likely that the parliament speaker, Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, will assume temporary charge of the country, until lawmakers elect a new president to complete the rest of Rajapaksa's term, due to end in 2024, said constitutional expert Jayadeva Uyangoda.

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