Sri Lanka’s Parliament will not convene on Friday

Sri Lankas Parliament will not convene on Friday as Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena is yet to receive President Gotabaya Rajapaksas resignation letter, the Speakers Office said on Thursday.

Sri Lanka’s Parliament will not convene on Friday as Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena is yet to receive President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s resignation letter, the Speaker’s Office said on Thursday. The next date for the meeting will be announced within the next three days if President Rajapaksa's resignation letter is received by the Speaker today, the Speaker's Office said.

On Monday, Abeywardena had announced that Parliament will elect the new Sri Lankan President on July 20 following Rajapaksa’s resignation on July 13. But Rajapaksa, 73, appointed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as the acting President hours after he fled the country without resigning as previously announced.

Abeywardena, who on Thursday, informed Rajapaksa that he should submit his letter of resignation as soon as possible or else he will consider other options to remove him from the office. Singapore on Thursday said it has allowed Rajapaksa to enter the city-state on a ''private visit'' from the Maldives and there was no request for asylum from him, after he fled the country in the face of public revolt against his government's mishandling of the economy.

Acting President Wickremesinghe on Wednesday urged the Speaker to appoint a consensus Prime Minister that had the backing of all the parties.

The principal opposition party and the group of parliamentarians who broke away from the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) party said Sajith Premadasa is their Presidential nominee.

Political parties have asked the Speaker to explore ways to remove Rajapaksa from office if he continues to delay submitting his resignation.