Prime Minister Wickremesinghe sworn in as interim Sri Lankan president
Ranil Wickremesinghe says he will initiate steps to change the constitution to curb presidential powers and strengthen parliament and take legal action against “insurgents.”
Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe gestures as he speaks during an interview at his office in Colombo, Sri Lanka, May 24, 2022.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has been sworn in as Sri Lanka’s interim president until the country's parliament elects a successor to Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
The prime minister's office said Wickremesinghe was sworn in Friday as interim president before Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya.
Speaker of Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana said that lawmakers will convene on Saturday to choose a new leader after Rajapaksa resigned following mass protests over the country’s economic collapse.
Their choice would serve out the remainder of Rajapaksa's term ending in 2024, said Abeywardana, promising a swift and transparent process that should be done within a week.
In a televised statement, Wickremesinghe said he would initiate steps to change the constitution to curb presidential powers and strengthen parliament and restore law and order.
Referring to clashes near parliament on Wednesday night when many soldiers were reportedly injured, Wickremesinghe said true protesters will not get involved in such actions.
"There is a big difference between protesters and insurgents. We will take legal action against insurgents,” he said.
READ MORE: Sri Lanka president's resignation accepted, parliament to convene — speaker
Rapid economic decline
Wickremesinghe became the acting president after Rajapaksa fled Sri Lanka on Wednesday, flying first to the Maldives and then to Singapore.
Protesters cooked and distributed milk rice — a food Sri Lankans enjoy to celebrate victories — after Rajapaksa’s resignation.
At the main protest site in front of the president’s office in Colombo, people welcomed his resignation but insisted Wickremesinghe also should step aside.
The capital regained a tenuous calm after protesters who had occupied government buildings retreated on Thursday. But with the political opposition in parliament fractured, a solution to Sri Lanka’s many woes seemed no closer.
Sri Lanka has run short of money to pay for imports of basic necessities such as food, fertiliser, medicine and fuel, to the despair of its 22 million people.
Its rapid economic decline has been all the more shocking because, before this crisis, the economy had been expanding, with a growing, comfortable middle class.
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