Sri Lanka's Rajapaksa ousted, ally nominated as successor

COLOMBO • Sri Lanka's Parliament yesterday accepted the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa after he fled the country, paving the way for lawmakers to start repairing the island's shattered politics and resume efforts to ease its economic crisis.

After suffering from crippling shortages of petrol and diesel and runaway prices of basic items like vegetables and bread for months under the rule of Mr Rajapaksa and his brothers, Sri Lankans are now waiting for lawmakers to elect a new president next Wednesday.

Until then, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will be the interim president although protesters want him gone too. Mr Wickremesinghe was sworn in yesterday as the acting president.

His private residence was set ablaze by demonstrators last weekend and his office stormed this week.

Nevertheless, the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) party yesterday nominated Mr Wickremesinghe to take up the top job full-time.

"Ranil Wickremesinghe is not the change we have fought so hard for," said 43-year-old martial arts specialist Wimal Jayasuriya, who is on a hunger strike opposite the Prime Minister's official residence, which was also sacked by protesters.

"We will not allow him to be president. The SLPP parliamentarians should stand with the people and not allow Ranil Wickremesinghe to become president."

The Speaker of Parliament, Mr Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, said lawmakers would "constitutionally appoint a new president".

"It will happen quickly and successfully. I request everyone to support this process," said Mr Abeywardena, who received Mr Rajapaksa's resignation the previous night.

Mr Rajapaksa landed in Singapore on Thursday, having fled to the Maldives early on Wednesday on a military jet along with his wife and two security guards.

Protesters occupied his home and office last weekend after surging past armed guards.

Sri Lanka's top court yesterday barred two of Mr Rajapaksa's brothers, former prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and former finance minister Basil Rajapaksa, from leaving the country without permission until July 28, according to anti-corruption group Transparency International Sri Lanka.

The group approached the court seeking "action against persons responsible for the current economic crisis".

A lawyer for the brothers did not respond to calls from Reuters.

"We are so happy today that he resigned and we feel that when we, the people, come together, we can do everything," said Mr Arunanandan, 34, referring to Mr Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

The school teacher has been camping at the main protest site opposite the Presidential Secretariat for the past three months. "We are the real power in this country," he said.

Sri Lanka is a major tourist destination in the Indian Ocean and well known for its tea industry and garment exports.

Mr Abeywardena said he hoped to complete the process of selecting a new president within a week. Parliament is to reconvene today and be notified formally of the vacancy at the top, with a vote for a new president set for July 20.

The Bar Association of Sri Lanka, an influential lawyers' collective, called on Parliament to ensure that the election of Mr Rajapaksa's successor is held without delay.

The opposition's nominee is Mr Sajith Premadasa, while the potential dark horse is senior lawmaker Dullas Alahapperuma.

After he was sworn in by the chief justice as interim president, Mr Wickremesinghe said he would follow the constitutional process and establish law and order in the South Asian country.

He also vowed to start moves to increase Parliament's powers and reduce those of the president, as demanded by protesters.

"This change can be completed by the new president once he is elected by Parliament next week," Mr Wickremesinghe said.

Street protests over Sri Lanka's economic meltdown simmered for months before boiling over last weekend, when hundreds of thousands of people took over government buildings in Colombo, blaming the Rajapaksa family and its allies for runaway inflation, shortages of basic goods, and corruption.

Serpentine queues outside fuel pumps have become common, while the government has closed schools and enforced working from home to conserve fuel.

The country of 22 million people has nearly run out of dollars for imports and has defaulted on foreign loans. Headline inflation hit 54.6 per cent last month and the central bank has warned that it could rise to 70 per cent in the coming months.

REUTERS