The President of Sri Lanka has resigned on the background of protests

The President of Sri Lanka, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, resigned. It will be officially announced at 7 a.m. local time.

This was stated by the speaker of the countryʼs parliament, Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, writes The Washington Post.

Before that, protesters in Sri Lankaʼs capital, Colombo, agreed to vacate government buildings amid talks with the speaker of parliament.

They accuse Rajapaksa of long-term massive corruption and gross mismanagement of the economy of a country of about 22 million people. He rejects accusations of corruption.

After the official confirmation of the resignation, the parliament is due to meet on July 20 to elect a new president until the end of his term, which ends in 2024.

• The largest financial crisis since 1948 is taking place in Sri Lanka. The countryʼs foreign exchange reserves fell to a record low level, in April Sri Lanka declared default. The authorities suspended the work of schools and limited the sale of fuel. In several large cities, in particular in Colombo, hundreds of people stand in queues for hours for fuel. Because of this, there are clashes with the police and the military.
• On July 6, the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, Ranil Wickremesinghe, declared that his country was bankrupt.
• On July 9, in Sri Lankaʼs largest city, Colombo, protesters seized the presidentʼs residence and demanded his resignation.
• Rajapaksa fled the country on July 13 without tendering his resignation. He went first to the Maldives, then to Singapore, from where he reportedly submitted his resignation letter to the Sri Lankan High Commission. He later went to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.
• The Speaker called for the original resignation letter to be sent to Sri Lanka by the nearest available flight from Singapore.