Sri Lanka crisis: Presidential elections on 20 July
Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa announced his resignation on July 13, following an uproar against the government over the economic crisis in Sri Lanka. Now the Sri Lankan Parliament will elect a new President on July 20, who will replace Gotabaya Rajapaksa. This was announced by the Speaker of the Parliament, Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena on Monday. This decision was taken today during an important meeting of the leaders of all the parties.
President Rajapaksa has not yet formally resigned. However, he had informed the Speaker on Saturday that he would step down on July 13. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has also said that he will also step down once the new government is formed.
Parliamentary voting will be held on July 20
Abeywardena said that after Rajapaksa’s resignation was received on Wednesday, a meeting of Parliament would be called on July 15 to announce the vacancy and again on July 19 to accept the nomination. He said parliamentary voting would be held on July 20 to elect a new president. Rajapaksa agreed to step down on Saturday, accepting requests from party leaders to resign following a public uprising.
What does the constitution of Sri Lanka say?
Under the Sri Lankan Constitution, if both the President and the Prime Minister resign, the Speaker of the Parliament will serve as the Acting President for a maximum period of 30 days. Parliament will elect one of its members within 30 days, who will serve for the remaining two years of President Gotabaya’s current term.
Sri Lanka going through a bad phase
Sri Lanka is facing economic turmoil. The country with a population of 22 million people is passing through the worst phase in seven decades. There is a severe shortage of foreign exchange in Sri Lanka, due to which the country has been unable to pay for essential imports of fuel and other essential commodities.
