• Acting President of Sri Lanka announces a state of emergency

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    Acting President of Sri Lanka announces a state of emergency




     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.