‘People Must Respect A President Elected From The Sri Lankan Parliament’

Despite President Gotabaya Rajapaksa leaving Sri Lanka, protests continue to rock the country. Dayasiri Jayasekara, MP, former minister and general secretary of Sri Lanka Freedom Party, spoke with Rudroneel Ghosh about the current turmoil and the way out:

- Rudroneel Ghosh

Now that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has left the country, what is the next political course of action?

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has promised the Sri Lankan people that he will resign. After that the PM is going to be the acting president automatically. But the problem is that the protesters have demanded that both Gotabaya and PM Ranil Wickremesinghe resign along with the entire cabinet. In that case the speaker will take over the presidency in a month’s time.

But before that period the speaker can call the Parliament and elect a new president from the Parliament itself. This is the procedure as per the Constitution. But Gotabaya has sent a letter saying that he has appointed Wickremesinghe as the acting president. Under Article 37.1 of the Constitution, the president can appoint the PM to act in his office if he is unable to discharge his powers and responsibilities. But the protesters did not take these things into consideration and are still protesting and asking for Wickremesinghe’s resignation.

The people’s movement appears to distrust all politicians. Who can run the country in this situation? And will he or she have the backing of the people?