Sri Lanka parliament elects new president today
The Sri Lankan Parliament will meet in the coming hours of the day, Saturday, to begin the process of electing a new president of the country.
This comes after parliament on Friday approved the resignation of former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa after he fled to Singapore to escape the anti-government protesters who occupied his official residence and offices.
According to "Reuters", more than 100 police and security personnel with assault rifles were deployed on the road leading to Parliament on Saturday, where barriers and water cannons were set up to prevent any disturbances.
Columns of security forces patrolled another road leading to Parliament, although there were no indications of any demonstrators.
Parliament members are due to elect a new president within a week, after Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, an ally of Rajapaksa, the party's only representative in parliament, was sworn in as acting president until a new president is elected.
Wickremesinghe, who is also wanted by the protesters, was chosen as the ruling party's presidential candidate on Friday, and the country could witness further turmoil if he is elected.
The opposition candidate for the presidency is Sajith Premadasa, and the prominent deputy of the ruling party, Dulas Alhapiroma, is also in the race.
Protests escalated for months in Sri Lanka as a result of the economic collapse and intensified a week ago when hundreds of thousands of people took over government buildings in Colombo, accusing the Rajapaksa family and their allies of being responsible for hyperinflation, shortages of basic goods and corruption.
Days of fuel queues have become common in the island nation of 22 million, while foreign exchange reserves have dwindled to near zero and overall inflation reached 54.6 percent last month.
Sri Lanka's Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera said Sri Lanka received the first of three shipments of fuel on Saturday.
These are the first shipments to reach the country in about three weeks.
Another shipment of diesel will arrive today, and a shipment of gasoline is scheduled to arrive by next Tuesday.
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