Sri Lanka Protests Turn Violent As New Government Named

7 hours ago Former Sri Lankan President Rajapaksa officially tendered this letter to the Sri Lankan Parliament, appointing Prime Minister Wickremesinghe as acting President. However, he has still not officially resigned, which the Parliament Speaker said is "coming soon". The memo from Rajapaksa is below:.Now acting President Wickremesinghe then released this statement:.The implications of such a transfer of power exacerbated the already delicate security situation in Colombo, sending protestors into a frenzy considering the Prime Minister is deeply associated with the former President which the tens of thousands of protestors blame for Sri Lanka's colossal debt near 50B USD and 55% inflation rate. The Spokesperson for the new acting President told press that "the legal explanation will follow, first we need to get the situation under control", which did not assuage protestors turned rioters..At 0230 EST the government declared a state of emergency in all Western provinces and shut down incoming trains to Colombo. The Police Inspector General ordered Capitol police to disperse rioters and confiscate vehicles. A curfew was also declared which the Malaysian government encouraged their citizens in Sri Lanka to honor..One hour ago, Singapore granted asylum to Rajapaksa and he is expected to depart the Maldives by this evening on Singapore Airlines Flight SQ 437. A new Presidential election is expected to take place on July 20th..However, this still has not assuaged the large scale rioting in Colombo, causing acting President Wickremesinghe to convene a special council of the Chief of Defense Staff, Inspector General of Police, and heads of the Armed Forces to "restore law and order". 30 people have been hospitalized so far at Flower Road Hospital after police forcibly dispersed protests at the Prime Ministers Office in Colombo.