Presidential elections have been announced amid political instability in Sri Lanka. Speaker Mahendra Yapa Abhayvardhan has announced to hold presidential elections on July 20. Nominations for the presidency will be filed by the 19th. Incumbent Gotabaya Rajapaksa will return to the 19th country and resign. Then an all-party government will be formed.
The protesters who occupied the Rashtrapati Bhavan refused to vacate the building and announced that they would vacate the Rashtrapati Bhavan only after the elections. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country before the protesters occupied the Rashtrapati Bhavan. According to the speaker, Rajapaksa is in the neighboring country and will return from there on the 18th. He will resign on the same day. Nominations for the presidency will be filed by the 19th and the 30th election will be held. No explanation was given as to which country the Rajapaksa is in.
Meanwhile, a statement from the PMO said that an all-party government would be formed and the old cabinet would resign. Until then the old cabinet will have a charge. Along with announcing the resignation of the President, the Prime Minister also announced his resignation with the formation of a new cabinet. This calmed the protest a little. An all-party government will be on a temporary basis. That government will remain in office until new elections are held. Earlier, protesters set fire to the prime minister’s private residence.
In Sri Lanka, which is facing a political and economic crisis, protesters have demanded the resignation of the entire cabinet and a fresh presidential election. With this demand came aggressive demonstrations across the country. Meanwhile, the Rashtrapati Bhavan was taken over. As the protesters did not vacate the Rashtrapati Bhavan, speculation was rife in Sri Lanka that India would send troops. There was outrage in Sri Lanka over the issue. The people opposed India’s possible military action. However, the Indian embassy in Sri Lanka dismissed the speculation as baseless. The Indian embassy said the Indian government would not send troops to Sri Lanka. There are no facts in those reports.