Sri Lanka's President Submits Resignation via Email

Sri Lanka's President Gotabaya Rajapaksa emailed a letter of resignation to the speaker of the country's parliament late on Thursday.

A source familiar with the matter stated that they are not sure if the letter would be accepted in an email form, noting that Rajapaksa sent his resignation shortly after he arrived in Singapore.

Media outlets reported that he was on his way to Singapore before possibly continuing on to Saudi Arabia.

"The authenticity and the legality of the e-mail will have to be checked out" before being formally accepted, parliament speaker spokesperson Indunil Yapa told the AFP news agency, adding that a formal announcement was expected on Friday.

Over the weekend, thousands of demonstrators in Colombo stormed the presidential residence in one of the largest anti-government marches in the crisis-hit country this year. They also occupied the office of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who had quickly taken over as acting president.

Thousands of men, women, and children rushed into the state mansion queuing to sit on Rajapaksa’s chair on the upper floor while children and parents banged on a grand piano downstairs.

"We are peacefully withdrawing from the presidential palace, the presidential secretariat and the prime minister's office with immediate effect but will continue our struggle," a spokesperson for the demonstrators said on Thursday morning.