19th Amendment to Lankan Constitution to be revived; SC bars foreign travel of Rajapaksas till Jul 28
Ranil Wickremesinghe on Friday pledged to maintain law and order and revive the 19th Amendment to the Constitution aimed at empowering the Parliament over the executive President as he was sworn in as Sri Lanka’s interim President until the House elects a successor to Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
Rajapaksa, currently in Singapore, emailed his resignation to Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, who said on Friday that he accepted his resignation, which he received late on Thursday. Rajapaksa’s resignation came two days after the embattled leader fled to the Maldives and then flew to Singapore in the face of massive protests against his Government for mishandling the economy that bankrupted the country.
Earlier in the day, Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court barred former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and former Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa from leaving the country till July 28. The order was passed by the apex court during the hearing of a petition filed by global civil society organisation Transparency International on the economic crisis in Sri Lanka.
Wickremesinghe, 73, was sworn in as the acting President of Sri Lanka before Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya. Addressing Parliament after he was sworn in as interim President, Wickremesinghe, who is also the Prime Minister, pledged to strictly maintain law and order in the country which has witnessed massive anti-Government protests and occupation of key Government buildings. He said that the armed forces have been given the powers and the freedom to deal with any acts of violence and sabotage. “I am one hundred per cent supportive of peaceful demonstrations. There is a difference between rioters and protesters,” he said. Wickremesinghe said the true protesters would not resort to unleashing violence.
Meanwhile, the parliamentarians who are expected to vote in the process of electing the next President would be given full protection to attend Parliament. This is for the first time since 1978, Sri Lanka will elect the crisis-hit country’s next President through a secret vote by the MPs and not through a popular mandate.
The 225-member Parliament will elect the new President by a secret vote on July 20, Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena said on Friday. Abeywardena told the party leaders that Parliament will meet on July 20 to elect a new President.