Over 100 police and security personnel with assault rifles were deployed on the approach road to parliament
\n COLOMBO
\nSri Lanka\u2019s ousted president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled overseas this week to escape a popular uprising against his government, has said he took \u201call possible steps\u201d to avert the economic crisis that has engulfed the island nation.
\nOver 100 police and security personnel with assault rifles were deployed on the approach road to parliament
\nRajapaksa\u2019s resignation was accepted by parliament on Friday. He flew to the Maldives and then to Singapore after hundreds of thousands of anti-government protesters came out on the streets of Colombo a week ago and occupied his official residence and offices.
\nSri Lanka\u2019s parliament met on Saturday to begin the process of electing a new president, as a shipment of fuel arrived to provide some relief to the crisis-hit nation.
\nDuring the proceedings Dhammika Dasanayake, the secretary general of Sri Lanka\u2019s parliament, formally read out Rajapaksa\u2019s resignation letter, the contents of which have not previously been made public.
\nIn his letter Rajapaksa said Sri Lanka\u2019s financial crisis was rooted in years of economic mismanagement that pre-dated his presidency, along with the COVID-19 pandemic that drastically reduced Sri Lanka\u2019s tourist arrivals and remittances from foreign workers.
\n\u201cIt is my personal belief that I took all possible steps to address this crisis, including inviting parliamentarians to form an all-party or unity government,\u201d the letter said.
\nParliament will next meet on Tuesday to accept nominations for the post of the president. A vote to decide the country\u2019s leader is set to take place on Wednesday.
\nSix-time prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, an ally of the Rajapaksas who is the sole representative of his party in parliament, has been sworn in as acting president until then.
\nWickremesinghe, who protesters want gone too, was selected as the ruling party\u2019s candidate for president on Friday, leading to the prospect of further unrest should he be elected.
\nThe opposition\u2019s presidential nominee is Sajith Premadasa, while the potential dark horse is senior ruling party lawmaker Dullas Alahapperuma.
\nOver 100 police and security personnel with assault rifles were deployed on the approach road to parliament on Saturday, manning barricades and a water cannon to prevent any unrest. Columns of security forces patrolled another approach road to parliament, though there were no signs of any protesters.
\nStreet protests over Sri Lanka\u2019s economic meltdown simmered for months before boiling over on July 9, with protesters blaming the Rajapaksa family and allies for runaway inflation, shortages of basic goods, and corruption.
\nDays-long fuel queues have become the norm in the island nation of 22 million, while foreign exchange reserves have dwindled to close to zero and headline inflation hit 54.6% last month.
\nSri Lanka received the first of three fuel shipments on Saturday, Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera said. These are the first shipments to reach the country in about three weeks.
\nA second diesel consignment will also arrive on Saturday, with a shipment of petrol due by Tuesday.
\n\u201cPayments completed for all 3,\u201d the minister said in a tweet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Over 100 police and security personnel with assault rifles were deployed on the approach road to parliament COLOMBO Sri Lanka\u2019s ousted president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled overseas this week to escape a popular uprising against his government, has said he took \u201call possible steps\u201d to avert the economic crisis that has engulfed the island nation. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":271758,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[9634,390,793],"class_list":{"0":"post-271748","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-possible-steps","9":"tag-president","10":"tag-sri-lanka"},"yoast_head":"\n