Sri Lankan lawmakers met Saturday to begin choosing a new leader to serve the rest of the term abandoned by the president who fled abroad and resigned after mass protests over the country’s economic collapse. A day earlier, Sri Lanka’s prime minister was sworn in as interim president until Parliament elects a successor to Gotabaya Rajapaksa, whose term ends in 2024. Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana promised a swift and transparent political process that should be done within a week. The new president could appoint a new prime minister, who would then have to be approved by Parliament. Parliament’s secretary general, Dhammika Dasanayake, said during a brief session on Saturday that nominations for the election of the new president will be heard on Tuesday and if there is more than one candidate, the lawmakers will vote on Wednesday. Dasanayake also read Gotabaya’s resignation letter out loud in Parliament. In the letter, Rajapaksa says he was stepping down following requests by the people of Sri Lanka and political party leaders. He notes that the economic crisis was looming even when he took office in 2019 and was aggravated by frequent lockdowns during the coronavirus pandemic. Security around the Parliament building in the capital, Colombo, was heightened on Saturday with armed masked soldiers on guard and roads near the building closed to the public. In a televised statement on Friday, Prime Minister Ranil 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.” Read: Sri Lankan president resigns, Parliament to convene It was unclear to whom he was referring, although he said true protesters would not have gotten involved in clashes Wednesday night near Parliament, where many soldiers reportedly were injured. “There is a big difference between protesters and insurgents. We will take legal action against insurgents,” he said. Wickremesinghe became acting president after Rajapaksa fled Sri Lanka on Wednesday and flew first to the Maldives and then to Singapore. Many protesters insisted that Wickremesinghe too should step aside. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka’s opposition leader, who is seeking the presidency, vowed to “listen to the people” and to hold Rajapaksa accountable. In an interview with The Associated Press from his office, Sajith Premadasa said that if he wins the election in Parliament, he would ensure that “an elective dictatorship never, ever occurs” in Sri Lanka. “That’s what we should do. That is our function — catching those who looted Sri Lanka. That should be done through proper constitutional, legal, democratic procedures,” Premadasa said. Sri Lanka has run short of money to pay for imports of basic necessities such as food, fertilizer, medicine and fuel for its 22 million people. Its rapid economic decline has been all the more shocking because, before this crisis, the economy had been expanding, with a growing, comfortable middle class. The protests underscored the dramatic fall of the Rajapaksa political clan that has ruled Sri Lanka for most of the past two decades. The Rev. Jeewantha Peiris, a Catholic priest and protest leader, said the country had “come through a hard journey.” “We are happy as a collective effort because this struggle of Sri Lanka was participated by all the citizens of Sri Lanka, even diaspora of Sri Lanka,” he said. Sri Lanka remains a powder keg, and the military warned Thursday that it had powers to respond in case of chaos — a message some found ominous. The speaker urged the public to “create a peaceful atmosphere” for the democratic process and for Parliament to “function freely and conscientiously.” Sri Lanka is seeking help from the International Monetary Fund and other creditors, but its finances are so poor that even obtaining a bailout has proven difficult, Wickremesinghe recently said. 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. Maduka Iroshan, 26, a university student and protester, said he was “thrilled” that Rajapaksa had quit, because he “ruined the dreams of the young generation.” Months of protests reached a frenzied peak last weekend when demonstrators stormed the president’s home and office and Wickremesinghe’s official residence. On Wednesday, they seized his office. The demonstrators initially vowed to stay until a new government was in place, but they shifted tactics Thursday, apparently concerned that an escalation in violence could undermine their message following clashes outside Parliament that left dozens injured. Protester Mirak Raheem noted the lack of violence and said the work was far from over. “This is really something amazing, the fact that it happened on the back of largely peaceful protest. But obviously this is just a beginning,” Raheem said, citing work to rebuild the economy and restore public confidence in the political system. Rajapaksa and his wife slipped away in the night aboard a military plane early Wednesday. On Thursday, he went to Singapore, according to the city-state’s Foreign Ministry. It said he had not requested asylum, and it was unclear if he would stay or move on. He previously has obtained medical services there, including undergoing heart surgery. Since Sri Lankan presidents are protected from arrest while in power, Rajapaksa likely wanted to leave while he still had constitutional immunity and access to the plane. As a military strategist whose brutal campaign helped end the country’s 26-year civil war, Rajapaksa and his brother, who was president at the time, were once hailed by the island’s Buddhist Sinhalese majority. Despite accusations of wartime atrocities, including ordering military attacks on ethnic Tamil civilians and abducting journalists, Rajapaksa remained popular among many Sri Lankans. He has continually denied the allegations.

Sri Lanka's acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Wednesday declared a nationwide curfew effective until Thursday morning. The order directs that no person shall be on any public road, railway, public park, public recreation ground or other public ground or the seashore in such areas till 5 a.m. on Thursday, except under the authority of a written permit granted by relevant authorities. Meanwhile, Wickremesinghe on Wednesday informed Speaker of Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena to nominate a prime minister who is acceptable to both the government and opposition. Protesters surrounded and entered the Prime Minister's Office in Colombo on Wednesday, calling for the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Wickremesinghe. Read:Thousands protest against Sri Lanka's new acting president Rajapaksa, who left for the Maldives earlier on Wednesday, was expected to hand in his resignation from the presidency later in the day amid a severe economic crisis.

Protesters stormed the Sri Lankan prime minster’s office after the president fled the country only hours before he was to step down amid a devastating economic crisis that has triggered severe shortages of food and fuel. In recent days, protesters have occupied several government buildings demanding their top leaders step down. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, his wife and two bodyguards left aboard a Sri Lankan Air Force plane bound for the city of Male, the capital of the Maldives, according to an immigration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation. Rajapaksa had agreed to resign under pressure. Read: Sri Lanka's new president to be elected on July 20: speaker Protesters are demanding that Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe step down immediately. He said he would leave once a new government was in place.

Before he fled Sri Lanka on Wednesday amid a crushing economic crisis, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was the last of six members of the country’s most influential family still clinging to power. Rajapaksa, his wife and two bodyguards flew to the city of Male, the capital of the Maldives, according to an immigration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation. His departure comes four days after massive crowds broke into his official residence and occupied his seaside office, and he pledged to leave the country. Protesters also stormed the residence of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who has said he will leave once a new government is in place. Read: Sri Lanka's new president to be elected on July 20: speaker Here is a closer look at the rise and fall of Rajapaksa: A FAMILY AFFAIR For decades, the powerful land-owning Rajapaksa family had dominated local politics in their rural southern district before Mahinda Rajapaksa was elected president in 2005. Appealing to the nationalist sentiment of the island’s Buddhist-Sinhalese majority, he led Sri Lanka into a triumphant victory over ethnic Tamil rebels in 2009, ending a 26-year brutal civil war that had divided the country. His younger brother, Gotabaya, was a powerful official and military strategist in the Ministry of Defense. Mahinda remained in office until 2015, when he lost to the opposition led by his former aide. But the family made a comeback in 2019, when Gotabaya won the presidential election on a promise to restore security in the wake of the Easter Sunday terrorist suicide bombings that killed 290 people. He vowed to bring back the muscular nationalism that had made his family popular with the Buddhist majority, and to lead the country out of an economic slump with a message of stability and development. Instead, he made a series of fatal mistakes that ushered in an unprecedented crisis. TAX CUTS DRAIN GOVERNMENT FUNDS As tourism plunged in the wake of the bombings and foreign loans on controversial development projects — including a port and an airport in the president’s home region — needed to be repaid, Rajapaksa didn’t listen to economic advisers and pushed through the largest tax cuts in the country’s history. It was meant to spur spending, but critics warned it would slash the government’s finances. Pandemic lockdowns and an ill-advised ban on chemical fertilizers further hurt the fragile economy. The country soon ran out of money and couldn’t repay its huge debts. Shortages of food, cooking gas, fuel and medicine stoked public anger at what many saw as mismanagement, corruption and nepotism. THE END BEGINS The family’s unravelling began in April, when growing protests forced three Rajapaksa relatives, including the finance minister, to quit their Cabinet posts and another to leave his ministerial job. In May, government supporters attacked protesters in a wave of violence that left nine dead. The anger of the protesters turned against Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was pressured to resign as prime minister and took refuge on a heavily fortified naval base. But Gotabaya refused to go, triggering chants in the streets of “Gota Go Home!” Instead, he saw his savior in Wickremesinghe, a seasoned opposition politician who he brought in to steer the country out of the abyss. Ultimately, however, Wickremesinghe lacked the political heft and public support needed to get the job done.

Sri Lanka’s president declared a state of emergency on Friday amid widespread public protests demanding his resignation over the country’s worst economic crisis recent memory.   President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has issued a decree declaring a public emergency effective Friday.   Sri Lanka is near bankruptcy having announced that it is suspending repayment of its foreign loans and its usable foreign currency reserves plummeting below $50 million. It has $7 billion foreign loan repayments this year out of $25 billion to be repaid by 2026. Rajapaksa’s announcement comes as protesters demonstrate near Parliament while others continue to occupy the entrance to the president’s office, demanding Rajapaksa and his powerful ruling family to quit, holding them responsible for the economic crisis. Also Read: Sri Lanka opposition seeks no-confidence vote on Rajapaksas Similar protests have spread to other locations, with people setting up camps opposite the prime minister’s residence and other towns across the country. For several months, Sri Lankans have endured long lines to buy fuel, cooking gas, food and medicine, most of which come from abroad. Shortages of hard currency have also hindered imports of raw materials for manufacturing and worsened inflation, which surged to 18.7% in March. As oil prices soar during the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Sri Lanka’s fuel stocks are running out. Authorities have announced countrywide power cuts extending up to 7 1/2 hours a day because they can’t supply enough fuel to power generating stations.    

Sri Lanka’s president declared a state of emergency in the island nation Friday, a day after angry protesters demonstrated near his home demanding he resign and as plans were were made for a nationwide protest over the country’s worst economic crisis in memory. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa invoked sections of the Public Security Ordinance, which gives him authority to make regulations in the interests of public security, preservation of public order, suppression of mutiny, riot or civil commotion or for the maintenance of essential supplies. Under the emergency regulations the president can authorize detentions, taking possession of any property and the search any premises. He can also change or suspend any law. Also read: Pakistan's parliament adjourns debate on embattled premier The order came a day after dozens of people were arrested following protests near the president’s home. There are also calls for an island-wide public protest on Sunday. Rajapaksa’s office blamed “organized extremists” within the thousands of protesters for violence during Thursday night’s demonstration, where police fired tear gas and a water cannon and arrested 54 people. Dozens of other people were also injured. Nuwan Bopage, an attorney representing some of the suspects, said several of them were being taken for medical examinations for various injuries and were to appear in court Friday. A police curfew that had been implemented in the suburbs of the capital, Colombo, was lifted Friday morning. The protesters blame Rajapaksa for long power outages and shortages of essential goods. Also read: Protest in India's capital on 2nd day of nationwide strike Sri Lanka has huge debt obligations and dwindling foreign reserves, and its struggle to pay for imports has caused the shortages. People wait in long lines for fuel, and power is cut for several hours daily because there’s not enough fuel to operate generating plants and dry weather has sapped hydropower capacity. On Thursday, the crowds demonstrating along the roads leading to Rajapaksa’s private residence on the outskirts of Colombo stoned two army buses that police were using to block the protesters. They set fire to one of the buses and turned back a fire truck that rushed to douse it. Senior police spokesperson Ajith Rohana told media that 24 police personnel and several other civilians were injured in the unrest, and several vehicles belonging to the police and army were torched by protesters. Total damage was estimated to be around $132,000 and the suspects will be charged with damaging public property, Rohana said. Reporters asked Rohana about accusations that police officers manhandled journalists covering the protests, including the arrest of at least one of them. Rohana said police followed the rules for riot control and took action only after the protest turned violent more than four hours after it started. Sri Lanka’s economic woes are blamed on successive governments not diversifying exports and relying on traditional cash sources like tea, garments and tourism, and on a culture of consuming imported goods. The COVID-19 pandemic dealt a heavy blow to Sri Lanka’s economy, with the government estimating a loss of $14 billion in the last two years. Sri Lanka also has immense foreign debt after borrowing heavily on projects that don’t earn money. Its foreign debt repayment obligations are around $7 billion for this year alone.   According to the Central Bank, inflation rose to 17.5% in February from 16.8% a month earlier. Its expected to continue rising because the government has allowed the local currency to float freely.