Singapore: Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa today emailed his resignation letter to the Parliament Speaker. Sri Lankan Speaker’s office said, the Speaker has received President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s resignation letter. The embattled Sri Lankan President had fled to the Maldives earlier this week and on Thursday took a Saudi Airlines plane to Singapore.
The Singapore Government issued a statement on Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s landing at the Changi Airport, stating that the Sri Lankan President was granted permission to enter the city-state on a private visit. According to an official declaration from Singapore’s Foreign Ministry, Mr Rajapaksa has not asked for asylum and neither has he been granted any asylum.
Mr Rajapaksa went into hiding after demonstrators stormed his home on the 9th of July. Mr Rajapaksa and his wife later fled to the Maldives. Before leaving Colombo, he had assured leaders that he would send in his resignation. Soon after, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was appointed as Sri Lanka’s interim President. Mr Wickremesinghe directed the military to do whatever is necessary to restore order after protesters stormed his office. Meanwhile, people have been staging nationwide protests demanding the resignation of both President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe. Sri Lanka has been suffering from its worst economic crisis in decades.
