Sri Lanka President Resigns

Sri Lanka's President, Gotabaya Rajapaksa has resigned and parliament will convene to choose a new leader after massive protests over the country's economic collapse forced him leave the office.

Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana said, Sri Lanka's parliament will convene Saturday, to start the process of electing a new president and he expects to complete the process within seven days. Their new choice as president will serve the remainder of Rajapaksa’s term which ends in 2024. That person could potentially appoint a new prime minister, who would then have to be approved by parliament.

Right now, Sri Lanka has run short of money to pay for imports of basic necessities such as food, fertilizer, and fuel to the despair of its 22 million people. Meanwhile, prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, was sworn in Friday as Sri Lanka's interim president before chief justice Jayantha Jayasuriya.

He will rule the country until parliament elects a permanent successor to Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who resigned after mass protests over the country's economic collapse. With rajapaksa gone, pressure on Wickremesinghe was rising. Opponents had viewed his appointment as prime minister in may as alleviating pressure on Rajapaksa to resign.