Agence France-Presse has just announced that Ranil Wickremesinghe has been sworn in as Acting president of Sri Lanka.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has been appointed acting president of Sri Lanka, president Mahinda Rajapaksa informed the speaker Thursday, his office said.

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has arrived in Singapore, Sri Lanka’s parliament Speaker Mahinda Abbewardena announced at a press conference Thursday.

Singapore’s foreign ministry confirmed that Mr Rajapaksa had been allowed into the country for a “private visit”, adding: “Mr Rajapaksa has not requested asylum and has not been granted any.”

Mr Abbewardena said Mr Rajapaksa had formally announced his resignation in an email after arriving in Singapore. He has received a letter of resignation from the president with effect from July 14.

Under Sri Lanka’s constitution, when the president resigns, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe becomes interim president until parliament chooses a successor.

The Associated Press reported that the Senate will accept presidential nominations until November 19, and the presidential election will be held on November 20. Speaker Scott hopes to elect a new leader within a week.

Wickremesinghe, born in 1949, has been leader of Sri Lanka’s National Unity Party (UNP) since 1994. Wickremesinghe was appointed prime minister and finance minister by President Rajapaksa in May 2022, his fourth term as prime minister.

Wickremesinghe announced his willingness to step down when a new government was formed after his home was torched in mass anti-government protests on July 9.

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has informed the speaker of parliament that Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has been appointed interim president, Reuters quoted the speaker’s office as saying after he left the country Thursday.

Reuters said core members of Sri Lanka’s ruling party “overwhelmingly” backed the nomination of Wickremesinghe as president, while protesters objected to his appointment as interim president, blaming him for the economic crisis.

The two confirmed presidential candidates so far are Wickremesinghe and opposition leader Sagit Premadasa, India’s IANS news agency reported earlier.

Premadasa, who lost the 2019 presidential election, said on Monday that he is expected to be named president and is ready to return home to form a new government and revive the country’s economy. His UNITED National Force, one of the main opposition parties in parliament, won 54 out of 225 seats in the August 2020 parliamentary elections.

On the choice of prime minister, Wickremesinghe’s media team issued a statement on Wednesday saying, “Prime Minister and interim President Wickremesinghe has informed speaker Abbewardena to nominate a prime minister who is acceptable to both the government and the opposition.”

A “fragile calm” was restored in The Sri Lankan capital Colombo as protesters who had occupied government buildings retreated Monday after Mahinda Rajapaksa formally announced his resignation and the military warned that the country remained a “powder keg,” AP reported.