Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has told Speaker of the Sri Lankan Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardene that he will step down on July 13. Writes about it News First.

According to the publication, Abeiwardena said that the vote for the new president will take place on July 20.

According to Reuters, on Wednesday, July 13, Rajapaksa fled from Sri Lanka to the Maldives. This happened a few hours before he was due to announce his resignation. The president's whereabouts have been unknown since Saturday, after a crowd of protesters broke into his palace.

Also on 13 July, Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe declared a state of emergency and a curfew on the island. The reason for this was hundreds of protesters who surrounded his office in Colombo and demand his resignation.

Protests in Sri Lanka began due to the economic crisis that began in April. Experts call it the largest since 1948, when the country gained independence from Great Britain. Now there is no food, medicine and fuel on the island. According to the UN, four out of five people on the island skip meals due to poverty. Inflation in Sri Lanka reached 54.6%, external debt - $51 billion.