Sri Lanka’s acting president on July 17 declared a state of emergency across the crisis-hit island nation ahead of the parliamentary vote for a new president.
In the emergency proclamation, acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who previously served as the country’s prime minister, said an emergency declaration would be expedient “in the interests of public security, the protection of public order and the maintenance of supplies and services essential to the life of the community.”
Sri Lanka’s parliament is set to convene on July 20 to vote for a new president to replace former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled the country after thousands of protesters stormed his official residence demanding his resignation….