Sri Lanka crisis Highlights| Protesters vacate all govt sites except Prez Secretariat

Current Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, Leader of the main opposition party Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Sajith Premadasa and Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) leader Dullas Alahapperuma, are the three frontrunners in race to become the next President of Sri Lanka

Sri Lankans on Thursday were seen celebrating the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, amid the ongoing economic crisis in the country. 

The Sri Lankan parliamentary speaker's office said on Thursday that he received President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's original resignation letter. The office said it will verify the authenticity of the letter, complete all legal processes and make an official announcement about Rajapaksa's resignation on Friday.

Protesters in Sri Lanka have vacated all government sites except the President's Secretariat. 

“Everything (buildings stormed by protesters) is being cleared but President's Secretariat will still be for the people. We want to show we're capable. If we leave here, we can come back the next minute if we want,” one of the protesters told reporters on Thursday, news agency ANI reported. 

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Thursday that it is monitoring political and social developments in Sri Lanka, adding it hoped for a resolution that would allow for resumption of dialogue with Sri Lankan authorities. 

Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Thursday emailed his resignation to parliamentary speaker, news agency Reuters reported. 

The ministry of external affairs said on Thursday that India's ties with Sri Lanka are historic and comprehensive and “we continue to engage with all relevant stakeholders in that country.”

According to Sri Lankan security sources, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is expected to stay in Singapore for some time and might also move to the United Arab Emirates.

Singapore's foreign office has said Rajapaksa was allowed entry to the country as a private visit. “He has neither sought asylum nor was he granted asylum.”

Sri Lanka's parliament will not convene on Friday as announced earlier, the speaker's office said on Thursday, Reuters reported. The next date for the country's parliament to meet will be announced within the next three days if President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's resignation letter is received by the speaker today, the speaker's office said in a statement.

The speaker had earlier said that parliament would meet on Friday.

Calm returned to Sri Lanka's main city Colombo on Thursday as people awaited the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, although a curfew was imposed and troops patrolled the streets to prevent any outbreak of violence, Reuters reported. Rajapaksa, who fled to the Maldives on Wednesday to escape a popular uprising over his family's role in a crippling economic crisis, has landed in Singapore.

A plane carrying Sri Lanka's president arrived in Singapore from the Maldives Thursday, according to AFP reporters, a day after he escaped to the atoll nation.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa, his wife Ioma and their two bodyguards were on board the Saudia airline plane, which landed at Singapore's Changi Airport at 7:17 pm local time

Opposition parties will propose name for a prime minister at 10 am on Friday, local media Newswire reported.

Sri Lanka’s former Army chief and Member of Parliament Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka today said that he is ready to take Presidency if majority MPs elect him. He said a group from Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) was also backing him, according to local media report.

Sri Lanka's former prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and ex-finance minister Basil Rajapaksa on Thursday gave an undertaking to the Supreme Court through their lawyers that they will not leave the crisis-hit country until the Fundamental Rights petition filed against them is heard on Friday, PTI reported.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said she would urge other members of the Group of 20 major economies to put pressure on China to be more cooperative in long-stalled efforts to restructure the debts of countries in debt distress, including Sri Lanka, Reuters reported.

“Gotabaya resigning is one problem solved — but there are so many more,” said Bhasura Wickremesinghe, a 24-year-old student of maritime electrical engineering, who is not related to the prime minister. He complained that Sri Lankan politics have been dominated for years by “old politicians” who all need to go. “Politics needs to be treated like a job — you need to have qualifications that get you hired, not because of what your last name is,” he said, referring to the Rajapaksa family.

The political impasse threatens to worsen the bankrupt nation’s economic collapse since the absence of an alternative government could delay a hoped-for bailout from the International Monetary Fund. In the meantime, the country is relying on aid from India and China, AP reported.

China is a "very important" creditor of Sri Lanka and it would likely be in the interest of both countries if China participated in restructuring Sri Lanka's debt, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Thursday.

Amid the deteriorating political situation in the country, Sri Lanka's Parliament Speaker Yapa Abeywardena on Thursday said that he is yet to receive the resignation letter from President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, ANI. "The Speaker of Sri Lanka's Parliament is yet to receive the Letter of Resignation from President Gotabaya Rajapaksa," said the Sri Lankan Speaker's office.

According to Maldivian media, Rajapaksa was jeered and insults thrown at him at Male airport on Wednesday, while another group staged a demonstration in the capital urging Maldivian authorities not to allow him safe passage, AFP reported.

Sri Lankan soldiers have been authorised to use necessary force to prevent destruction of property and life, Reuters quotes the Lankan Army statement

Confusion persisted about Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s whereabouts, with the Associated Press reporting Thursday he was headed to Saudi Arabia and Reuters saying he would stay in Singapore

Sri Lankan authorities on Thursday reimposed a curfew in the Western Province amid fears of violence erupting in the crisis-hit country. The curfew was first imposed on Wednesday and was lifted on Thursday morning.