Colombo, July 16 (BNA): Sri Lanka’s parliament is set to meet on Saturday to begin the process of electing a new president, as a shipment of fuel has arrived to provide some relief to the crisis-stricken country.
The resignation of former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was approved by parliament on Friday after he fled to Singapore to escape anti-government protesters who occupied his official residence and offices, Reuters said.
More than 100 police and security personnel with assault rifles were deployed on the road to approaching Parliament on Saturday, with barricades and water cannons put in place to prevent any disturbances. Columns of security forces patrolled another approaching parliament road, although there were no signs of any protesters.
Lawmakers are due to elect a new president within a week, with six-time Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, an ally of Rajapaksas and the only representative of his party in Parliament, sworn in as acting president until then.
Wickremesinghe, who is also wanted by the protesters, was chosen as the ruling party’s presidential candidate on Friday, raising the prospect of further unrest should he be elected.
The opposition’s presidential candidate is Sajith Premadasa, while the likely dark horse is the ruling party’s leading MP Dulas Alahabiruma.
Street protests over Sri Lanka’s economic collapse escalated for months before boiling over a week ago when hundreds of thousands of people took over government buildings in Colombo, blaming the Rajapaksa family and their allies for hyperinflation, shortages of basic goods and corruption.
Days of fuel queues have become the norm in the island nation of 22 million, while foreign exchange reserves have dwindled to near zero and headline inflation hit 54.6% last month.
Sri Lanka’s Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera said Sri Lanka received the first of three deliveries of fuel on Saturday. These are the first shipments to reach the country in about three weeks.
Another shipment of diesel will also arrive on Saturday, and a shipment of gasoline is scheduled to arrive by Tuesday.
“Payments completed for all three,” the minister said in a tweet.
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