All-Party meet asks Lankan PM Wickremesinghe to resign: Updates in 10 points

Amid the ongoing crisis and the consequent protests in the country, the Lankan President has fled the country as he now awaits to fly to Singapore from the Maldives. The all-party meet held on Wednesday meanwhile has asked the interim President and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to resign.

Colombo: Amid the ongoing crisis and the consequent protests in the country, Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has fled the country as he now awaits to fly to Singapore from the Maldives. The all-party meet held on Wednesday meanwhile has asked the interim President and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to resign.

Here are the key developments in the crisis so far:

1. Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled to country without resigning and landed in Maldives on Wednesday, has now requested the Maldives government to arrange a private jet to fly him to Singapore, as confirmed by the sources in Maldives government.
2. Leaders of political parties in Sri Lanka met and decided that Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe should resign immediately to resolve the current situation in the country. Wickremesinghe was made the interim President of Sri Lanka after Rajapaksa fled the country on Wednesday.
3. On the other hand, Ranil Wickremesinghe's office -- reacting to the all-party meet's demand to resign -- said that the ruling party and the opposition must form an all-party government. He also informed Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena to nominate a Prime Minister acceptable to both the government and the Opposition.
4. The Central Bank of Sri Lanka has put out a warning of the possible exposure to significant financial, operational, legal, and security-related risks posed by investments in virtual currencies, essentially cryptocurrencies while asking people not to fall prey to such types of virtual schemes offered through the Internet amid the economic crisis.
5. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his wife along with two bodyguards from Katunayake International Airport travelled to the Maldives after full approval of the country's Defense Ministry on Wednesday. On their arrival there, they were escorted by the police to an undisclosed location.
6. Meanwhile, the curfew that Ranil Wickremsinghe had imposed over intensifying protests against the government in the state was lifted.
7. The violence back at the PM's residence took an even more violent turn as tear gas shells were fired at the mob around it. The protestors had taken over his residence and jumped over the gates to forcefully enter the premises of the Parliament. A student had reportedly died during the protests thereby infuriating the protesters.
8. Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, amid the demands, confirmed that President Rajapaksa will send his resignation on Wednesday as promised.
9. Sri Lanka's state-run TV network, Rupavahini Corporation, briefly suspended its telecast after protesters entered the TV station. The channel resumed the broadcast later.
10. Meanwhile, the Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka on Wednesday quashed the rumours claiming India's part in helping President Rajapaksa and his brother Basil flee the country.