Sri Lankan PM Ranil Wickremesinghe appointed acting President

Colombo, July 13, 2022

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was on Wednesday appointed as the acting President of Sri Lanka after Gotabaya Rajpaksa fled to the Maldives.

As per reports, President Rajapaksa informed this to Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena.

Soon after taking charge, Wickremesinghe imposed curfew in the Western province where the capital Colombo is and declared emergency regulations island wide.

Protesters have surrounded the Prime Minister's Office and a tense situation prevailed with police resorting to tear gas and firing in the air. Protesters who have occupied the President's house, his office and PM's official residence have called the public to gather in Colombo despite the emergency and the curfew.

Wickremesinghe has also ordered the security forces to arrest people acting in a riotous manner and blocked vehicles coming to Colombo. National Television station has stopped transmission.

IANS