President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s resignation letter was accepted by the speaker of parliament in crisis-stricken Sri Lanka after it was authenticated, the speaker told reporters. The letter was flown from Singapore late on Thursday.
In Sri Lanka, protesters left government buildings on Thursday after ailing president Gotabaya Rajapaksa finally submitted his resignation by email, as demanded by protesters for months.
Despite curfews being announced as a result of protesters occupying the acting president’s office for the previous two days, jubilant crowds gathered on the streets to celebrate President Gotabaya’s resignation.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had been in that role. In the past week, protesters who had stormed government buildings, including the President’s home and the Prime Minister’s office, left them because they didn’t want to cause damage to public property. As a result, Sri Lankan military troops moved in to increase security.
There was no immediate official notification, according to a statement from the speaker’s aide of the Sri Lankan Parliament, but the speaker had received the president’s resignation through the Singaporean embassy.
Following confirmation of the letter’s legitimacy and authenticity, an announcement was scheduled for Friday, according to the statement.
A day after leaving the country with his wife, first for the Maldives and then for Singapore, President Gotabaya resigned.
