Sri Lanka to hold election upon president’s resignation before March 2023

A presidential and parliamentary election will be held in Sri Lanka, where incumbent president Gotabaya Rajapaksa has decided to step down, before March 2023, The Daily Mirror reported on Monday, citing high-ranking government officials.

"Rajapaksa will end his president on Wednesday after handing in his resignation to the parliament speaker [Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena]. A decision has been taken to hold a presidential and parliamentary election before March next year," the daily writes.

Earlier, Rajapaksa officially confirmed his willingness to resign to the country’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Following a nationwide protest on Saturday that left more than 100 people injured with the president’s residence occupied, Rajapaksa said he would end his presidency on July 13. His whereabouts is still unknown.