Sri Lanka Acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe announces 'State of Emergency'

Colombo, Jul 18: The Acting President of Sri Lanka Ranil Wickremesinghe has issued an extraordinary gazette declaring a State of Emergency in the island nation with effect from Monday (Jul 18), as the country grapples with social unrest and crippling economic crisis.

 

 

 

 

According to Sri Lankan media, the gazette notification says, the public emergency in Sri Lanka has been declared in the interests of public security, the protection of public order and the maintenance of supplies and services essential to the life of the community. The state of emergency has been declared in a proclamation by Wickremesinghe in terms of Article 40(1)(C) of the Constitution, by virtue of the powers vested in him by Section 2 of the Public Security Ordinance (Chapter 40), as amended by Act No. 8 of 1959, Law No. 6 of 1978 and Act No. 28 of 1988.

 

 

 

 

Former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had offered his resignation after fleeing the country to Singapore. The president first flew to the Maldives after tens of thousands of protesters stormed his official residence in the capital Colombo. The Sri Lankan Parliament announced that the nominations for the Presidential elections will be held on Tuesday (Jul 19) and the new President of Sri Lanka will be elected on Jul 20.

At the same time, the main opposition leader Sajith Premadasa is set to contest the presidential elections. Terming the scenario of him winning Sri Lanka's presidential elections an 'uphill task', Premadasa on Friday (Jul 15) said that he will contest the elections as he is convinced that the truth will prevail.