Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who has fled to the Maldives, has given powers to Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to work as acting President amid massive protests. This means Mr Rajapaksa has not resigned yet, something the protesters have been demanding. Whenever Mr Rajapaksa resigns, the Sri Lankan parliament must elect one of its MPs as President. The successor will hold the office for the remainder of the term of the vacating President. This election must be held within a month since the vacancy came. On Tuesday, expecting that the President would resign today, the Speaker had announced the date of the election as July 20.
