MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th July, 2022) Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe should resign and not participate as a candidate in the July 20 presidential election to avoid escalating protests and unrest, the leader of the opposition Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) said on Wednesday.
Earlier in the day, protesters gathered at the residence of Wickremesinghe, demanding that he follows President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who announced his resignation on Monday. Wickremesinghe has declared a countrywide state of emergency, while Rajapaksa, who was supposed to leave his post on July 13, fled late Tuesday night to Maldives.
"We urge the president and the prime minister to resign without creating further unrest in the country. We have had enough chaos and unrest for the last few months. Every sector in the country is crippled now. It is the responsibility of the president and the prime minister to pay heed to the demand of the people and avert any more crisis," Anura Kumara Dissnayake, the JVP leader, was quoted as saying by the Daily Mirror newspaper.
Dissnayake added that the new president was expected to be elected by a parliamentary vote on July 20, and everyone is watching whether the new leader will be elected in accordance with the people's requirements, or would "against their demand."
According to the JVP leader, cited by the newspaper, the prime minister was conspiring to become the acting president and then the newly-elected president by commanding majority after buying over some lawmakers.
The news outlet also reports, citing parliamentary sources, that major political parties and a number of public and religious organizations are preparing their candidates to fill the post of the country's new president.
The Marxist-Leninist JVP opposition party is represented in the Sri Lankan parliament by only three lawmakers, but has significant weight among the participants in mass street protests.
On Saturday, the participants of the anti-mass protest in Colombo took control of the residences of the president and the prime minister, demanding their resignation. The parliament will hold a presidential election on July 20 and appoint a caretaker government, which will remain in power until the next general election.
