Sri Lanka’s parliament will elect a new president on July 20, its speaker said on Monday.
The statement came after protesters stormed the residences of the current president and PM, who have both offered to quit amid an economic crisis.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is set to resign on Wednesday. His brothers and nephew earlier quit as ministers as Sri Lanka began running out of fuel, food and other essentials in the worst crisis since independence from Britain in 1948.
Parliament will reconvene on Friday and will vote to elect a new president five days later, Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena said in a statement.
“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,” the statement added.
“The ruling party has said the prime minister and the Cabinet are ready to resign to appoint an all-party government.”
Sri Lanka’s embattled president was flown to an airbase near the main international airport on Monday, officials said, raising speculation he will escape into exile abroad.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the presidential palace in Colombo under naval protection on Saturday. The 73-year-old leader was brought to the Katunayake airbase adjoining the country’s main international airport.
“He and his entourage were flown back to Colombo in two Bell 412 choppers,” an official added. There was no official word from the president’s office about his whereabouts, and several local media reports speculated he was set to leave for Dubai later on Monday.
