Sri Lanka’s deposed president, who fled overseas this week to avoid a popular uprising against his government, has stated that he took ‘all possible steps’ to avert the island nation’s economic crisis.
Parliament accepted Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s resignation on Friday. He flew to the Maldives and then to Singapore after hundreds of thousands of anti-government protesters occupied his official residence and offices in Colombo a week ago.
On Saturday, Sri Lanka’s parliament convened to begin the process of electing a new president, and a shipment of fuel arrived to provide some relief to the crisis-stricken country.
The secretary general of Sri Lanka’s parliament, Dhammika Dasanayake, formally read out Rajapaksa’s resignation letter, the contents of which had not previously been made public.
In the letter, Rajapaksa stated that Sri Lanka’s financial crisis was caused by years of economic mismanagement prior to his presidency, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic, which significantly reduced tourist arrivals and remittances from foreign workers.
‘I believe I took every possible step to address this crisis, including inviting parliamentarians to form an all-party or unity government,’ the letter stated.
The next meeting of Parliament will be on Tuesday to accept nominations for the position of President. On Wednesday, a vote to determine the country’s leader will be held.
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