Sri Lanka's prime minister was sworn in on Friday as interim president until Parliament elects a successor to Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled abroad and resigned after mass protests over the country's economic collapse. 9News
Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled abroad and resigned after mass protests over the country's economic collapseLawmakers were to convene Saturday to choose a new leader who would serve the remainder of Rajapaksa's term, which ends in 2024.
In a televised statement, Wickremesinghe said he would initiate steps to change the constitution to curb presidential powers and strengthen Parliament, restore law and order and take legal action against "insurgents." Wickremesinghe became acting president after Rajapaksa fled Sri Lanka on Wednesday, flying first to the Maldives and then to Singapore. The prime minister's office said Wickremesinghe was sworn in Friday as interim president by Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya.
The Rev. Jeewantha Peiris, a Catholic priest and protest leader, said the country had "come through a hard journey." Sri Lanka remains a powder keg, its economy in ruins. And the military warned Thursday that it had powers to respond in case of chaos — a message some found ominous. The protesters accuse Rajapaksa and his powerful political family of siphoning money from government coffers and of hastening the country's collapse by mismanaging the economy. The family has denied the corruption allegations, but Rajapaksa acknowledged that some of his policies contributed to Sri Lanka's meltdown.
Months of protests reached a frensied peak last weekend when demonstrators stormed the president's home and office and Wickremesinghe's official residence
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