Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said Wednesday he will step down, clearing the way for Parliament to choose a prime minister to work with newly elected President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has named Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa as the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has resigned from from the position of Prime Minister.

It has been decided to temporarily hike the price of a 450 g loaf of bread by Rs. 5 from midnight today (20), stated the Chairman of the All Ceylon Bakery Owners’ Association N. K. Jayawardena.

A suspect has been arrested for being in possession of a cache of explosives weighing up to 53kg.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has decided to appoint a 15-member caretaker Cabinet with Mahinda Rajapaksa as the Prime Minister.

Development Strategies and International Trade Deputy Minister Nalin Bandara yesterday called on Ranil Wickremesinghe to resign as Prime Minister and also to step down from UNP leadership in the light of the heavy defeat suffered by the United National Party-led NDF candidate in the Presidential election.

Former Prime Minister of Sri Lanka D.M. Jayaratne has passed away at the age of 88 at a private hospital in Kandy today.

Former Central Bank Deputy Governor S.R. Attygalle has been appointed as the Secretary to the Treasury and the Finance Ministry by the President today.

Major General (retired) Kamal Gunaratne was appointed as the Secretary to the Defence Ministry by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa today.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa assumed duties as the 7th Executive President of Sri Lanka at the Presidential Secretariat a short while ago.

The European Union (EU) states that the fundamental freedoms and rights of the citizens of the country have largely been respected during the Presidential Election in Sri Lanka.

Steps should be taken to ensure that 2/3rds of the members in Parliament give their approval for a dissolution of Parliament and the immediate holding  of a General Election, so that a new Cabinet can be formed, as a new President has been elected by the public, Minister Rajitha Senaratne had stated at the United National Party (UNP) MPs’ meeting yesterday (18).

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi telephoned Sri Lanka’s President-elect Gotabaya Rajapaksa to congratulate him on his electoral victory.

P. B. Jayasundera has been appointed as the Presidential Secretary to the newly-elected President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

Minister Rishad Bathiudeen, leader of the All Ceylon Makkal Congress has congratulated President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on winning the people’s mandate at the Presidential Election 2019.