Iran Press/ Asia: Sri Lanka's embattled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has flown out of the island nation on Wednesday, a media report said quoting officials.
Rajapaksa on Monday signed his resignation letter which will be handed over to the speaker of Parliament to make a public announcement today.
Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Wednesday will be sworn in as the President for a temporary period till a new President is elected by Parliament on July 20 and nominations for the presidency will be called for on July 19.
Moments before a crowd stormed the president's residence on July 9, Rajapaksa was evacuated from the President's House in Fort by the security forces and was protected on a naval vessel within the territorial waters of the country for security reasons.
Sri Lanka is suffering its worst economic crisis since gaining independence in 1948, which comes on the heels of successive waves of COVID-19, threatening to undo years of development and severely undermining the country's ability to achieve the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 219
