Sri Lanka

The price of a litre of Octane 92 petrol will be reduced by Rs 20, and the new retail price will be Rs 450 ($1.25).Octane 95 petrol will sell for Rs 540 per litre, down by Rs 10. The diesel price will be slashed by Rs 20 per litre, thus the new price will be Rs 440, and the price for super diesel will be Rs 510 a litre following a reduction of Rs 10.

The emergency has been declared in a proclamation by Acting President Wickremesinghe in terms of Article 40(1)(C) of the Constitution, by virtue of the powers vested in him by Section 2 of the Public Security Ordinance (Chapter 40), as amended by Act No. 8 of 1959, Law No. 6 of 1978 and Act No. 28 of 1988. Nominations for the presidential candidates will be held on Tuesday and the new President of Sri Lanka will be elected on July 20.

Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) General Secretary, Sagara Kariyawasam said on Friday in a statement that the SLPP would nominate Wickremesinghe and support him in the vote. Sri Lanka's Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena earlier in the day said that a new President would be elected through the Parliament on July 20 following the resignation of Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Xinhua news agency reported.

Wickremesinghe, who was the Prime Minister, was appointed as acting President as Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled the country amidst public protests, announced his resignation on Thursday. "I have banned calling the President Excellency," Wickremesinghe said in a televised statement. He also warned the protesters not to resort to violence as military had been empowered to take action.

Progress on getting an international bailout package depended on having a stable administration, he said. The country is in the grip of mass unrest over an economic crisis. Gotabaya Rajapaksa has fled to Singapore and acting president Ranil Wickremesinghe has imposed a curfew for a second day. Sri Lanka has seen its economy collapse and the cost of food, fuel and other basic supplies skyrocket for ordinary people.

The Speaker said that as per Constitution, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will be appointed as the President of Sri Lanka until the a new President is elected. "As one of the oldest democracies in South Asia, I urge all the political parties and the people to assist to follow the democratic practices and take necessary steps to resolve the current situation," the Speaker said.

Rajapaksa has sent his resignation, but Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena was in confusion on its legality, whether such communication could be sent via email. While Rajapaksa has assured the authenticity of the letter, the Speaker has sought legal advice from the Attorney General and has decided to make the official announcement only on Friday.

The 26-year-old man died from breathing difficulties after police lobbed teargas at protesters to disperse them, BBC reported. The injured included protesters who were outside the prime minister's office as well as those who were outside parliament later in the evening on Wednesday.

The protesters, who had occupied the entrance to the President's office and the Galle face green for more than three months, took over President's house, President's office and Prime Minister's official residence Temple Trees on July 9. On Wednesday, they also took over Prime Minister's office despite standoff with police in which more than 40 people injured.

President Rajapaksa is accompanied by his wife and two security officials who flew with him from Colombo on a Saudi Airlines plane, Daily Mirror reported. They were escorted to the plane by special forces of the Maldives Defence Force. President Rajapaksa had left crisis-hit Sri Lanka early Wednesday for the Maldives.