Digital Desk: According to a government notification published late on Sunday, acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe of Sri Lanka has proclaimed a state of emergency in an effort to suppress social unrest and address the island country's economic problems.
The notification
indicated that it was necessary to take these actions in order to ensure public
safety, preserve public order, and maintain supplies and services that were
vital to the community's daily operations.
Gotabaya
Rajapaksa, the president of Sri Lanka who was overthrown this week after a
popular movement against his administration, claims to have taken "all
conceivable precautions" to prevent the economic disaster that has gripped
the island nation.
Parliament
accepted Gotabaya Rajapaksa's resignation on Friday. After tens of thousands of
anti-government protestors took to the streets of Colombo a week ago and
overtook his official residence and offices, he took a flight to the Maldives
and then to Singapore.
On Saturday, Sri
Lanka's parliament convened to begin the process of electing a new president,
and a shipment of fuel arrived to help the country in its time of need.
One of the leading candidates to hold the office of president on a
full-time basis is Wickremesinghe, a Rajapaksa friend, but protesters also want
him out, raising the possibility of additional unrest should he win.
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