New SL President to be elected on July 20
Colombo, July 15 :Sri Lanka will elected a new President on July 20 to succeed the now deposed Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who on Thursday reached Singapore after fleeing the country following a mass uprising, it was announced on Friday.
Parliament will elect a new President on July 20 as decided by party leaders on an earlier occasion, newspapers quoted Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena as saying.
Nominations will be called on July 19 and a vote will take place the next day, the announcement said.
The Secretary General of Parliament, Dhammika Dassanayake, will inform the House about the official resignation of President Rajapaksa on Saturday, the Daily Mirror reported.
Before leaving Sri Lanka, first for The Maldives and then to Singapore, President Rajapaksa made Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe the acting President.
Rajapaksa was to resign as President on Wednesday but sent his resignation letter only after reaching Singapore on Thursday.