Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena in a U turn of opinions clarified that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is still in the country.
Responding to queries on the President’s current whereabouts, Abeywardena told ANI that he made a mistake in the BBC interview and that the President has not left the country.
“President of Sri Lanka Gotabaya Rajapaksa is still in the country, I made a mistake in the BBC interview,” he said.
In a BBC interview, Abeywardena stated that the President has left for another country.
India has told the top figures of the Sri Lankan government that Ranil Wickremesinghe’s election as the successor President upon any decision made by Gotabaya Rajapaksa to step down cannot be approved of, internal sources said.
The Indian counterpart has pointed out that since the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) is a political party that came to power through a democratic election and has parliamentary power, it should appoint one of their own MPs as the next President, according to sources.
They added that it is not acceptable according to democratic principles for Wickramasinghe, who has no mandate in the General Election, to become the President.
The Parliament group of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) today (11) has unanimously concluded that Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa must be nominated as the successor President.
The proposal was brought by Party Secretary General MP Ranjith Madduma Bandara and seconded by Party Chairman Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka.
The proposal thereafter was unanimously approved by the SJB Parliament Group.
The MP group meeting of the SJB and the Samagi Jana Sandhanaya is currently being held at the Opposition Leader’s Office in Colombo.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa never confirmed his resignation officially, but merely made a verbal assurance, said Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, leading to a heated situation among party leaders as he made this observation addressing the the party leaders’ meeting in Parliament this (11) afternoon.
The party leaders were of the strong opinion that Ranil Wickremesinghe too should resign from his post as the Prime Minister as the people have opposed not only the President but the Prime Minister as well. Accordingly, an all-party government must be allowed to be formed, the party leaders noted.
However, the Prime Minister did not respond to the opinions raised by the party leaders and continued to maintain his familiar silence.
Parliament is expected to be convened this Friday and address the current crisis and the party leaders have agreed that a new President be elected upon Rajapaksa’s resignation.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has delivered a special statement a short while ago.
In his statement, he made a special disclosure regarding the recent arson attack on his private residence and the recent media claims about his resignation.
All announcements made by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa will be issued by the Speaker after informing him, and therefore, only the announcements issued by the Speaker should be considered as the official announcements made by the President, a statement just dropped in by the President’s Office said, indicating what it appears to be a complete disregard for the announcement made by the Prime Minister’s Office earlier this morning.
Earlier this morning, the Prime Minister’s Office stated that President Rajapaksa will be announcing his resignation on July 13.
Had it not been a disregard for the statement by the PM’s Office this morning, there is no basis for a Head of State who is going to resign anyway to issue such an announcement of this nature out of nowhere. Further complicating the situation, a Presidential Secretariat is no more to confirm the claim, nor the attempts made to contact the President’s Secretary or any other top official for corroboration were successful.
In the backdrop, the emergence of the speculation that this would be the first sign of reversal of Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s so called decision to resign would be inevitable.
The one-day passport issuance service by the regional office of the Department of Immigration and Emigration at Kurunegala commences from today (11).
Earlier, the one-day service commenced in Matara, Kandy and Vavuniya districts on July 04, 2022.
These services function based on the instructions by Dhammika Perera in his capacity as the former Investment Promotion Minister.
Perera told LNW that he worked in the Ministry of Investment Promotion for only 80 hours and was able to accomplish what any other minister in Sri Lanka would have done in 800 hours.
The mandate of the President and the SLPP-led government is no more and the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) would be ready to rebuild the nation that once was destroyed by the SLPP-led regime, said Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa, making a special statement today (11).
Revealing that he is ready to contribute to the programme of stabilising the country and building the country’s economy, Premadasa noted that a government led by a new President and a new Prime Minister will be appointed.
Should anyone choose to conspire against this move in Parliament it would be an act of treason, he went on, urging all parties to support him in the mission of rebuilding the country.
