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Sri Lanka’s beleaguered President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has confirmed his resignation, says the prime minister’s office, after protesters stormed both leaders’ official residences, BBC rerported.

Demonstrators are still occupying the presidential palace and prime ministerial residence and have refused to leave until the leaders step down.

The parliament speaker said on Saturday the president would resign on 13 July.

But many protesters were strongly sceptical of the announcement.

On Monday, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s office said in a statement it had been officially informed by Mr Rajapaksa that he would step down on Wednesday. However, there has been no direct word from Mr Rajapaksa.

Under Sri Lanka’s constitution, his resignation can only formally be accepted when he resigns by letter to the parliament speaker – which has yet to happen.

Mr Rajapaksa’s location is currently undisclosed but military sources have told the BBC he is on a navy vessel in Sri Lankan waters.

His brother, former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, is on a naval base in the country, the sources say.

Thousands descended on the capital on Saturday demanding the president’s resignation after months of protests, according to BBC.

Mr Rajapaksa has been blamed for the country’s economic mismanagement, which has caused shortages of food, fuel and medicine for months.

Protesters inside the palaces have refused to budge until both leaders leave office.

“Our struggle is not over,” student protest leader Lahiru Weerasekara said, quoted by AFP. “We won’t give up this struggle until [President Rajapaksa] actually leaves,” he said.

“The next couple of days are going to be extremely uncertain times as to see what transpires politically,” political analyst and human rights lawyer Bhavani Fonseka told Reuters, adding that it would be interesting to see if the two leaders “actually resign”.

Political leaders held further meetings to discuss a smooth transition of power on Sunday.

The speaker of Sri Lanka’s parliament told the BBC World Service Newshour programme that a new cross-party coalition government must be formed within a week of the president officially stepping down.

Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, a member of the president’s governing party, also mostly blamed Covid-19 for the country’s economic woes, BBC reported.

“The Covid pandemic has created havoc in the country economically so we had to spend all our money on vaccinations,” he said.

The House of Representatives (HoR) has passed the ‘Nepal Police and Province Police (Work Operation, Supervision and Coordination) First Amendment Bill, 2022.

The bill has made provisions for the Nepal Police to look after Kathmandu Valley’s security in coordination with the Province Police.

Minister for Home Affairs Bal Krishna Khand had presented a proposal in the House seeking passage of the bill. The House passed the proposal unanimously.

An agreement was reached after clause-wise discussions on the bill in the State Affairs and Good Governance Committee that the Nepal Police shall look after the security in the Kathmandu Valley in coordination with the Province Police.

The HoR had held discussions on a report including this agreement.

Taking part in the discussions on the bill, Khagaraj Adhikari said the report has been prepared on agreement after extensive deliberations on the bill in the Committee and it has been presented in the HoR accordingly.

Mana Kumari GC stressed on the need of strengthening collaboration and co-existence for the implementation of federalism. She drew the Home Minister’s attention towards the demand from the police to incorporate the provision of giving pension in 16 years.

Prem Suwal called attention, saying the amendment bill has been brought without the implementation of the related Act.

Bharat Kumar Shah and Yashoda Gurung Subedi were among the lawmakers participating in the debate over the bill.
Responding to lawmakers’ questions before the passage of the bill in the HoR, Home Minister Khand said that Nepal Police and the Province Police were the security agencies formed for maintaining peace, security and good governance.

He expressed the belief that the Police force would be able to face up challenges in regards to dealing with new types of crimes, searching for the accused and taking action against them.

He made it clear on the occasion that the bill has in no way made the Province Police weaker and the government was conscious towards the possibility of security challenges coming due to the internal and external causes.

Stating that although the concept of Metropolitan Police has been brought in Nepal, he said so far quasi-judicial authority has not been given to it. The Home Minister informed the House of the practice of giving the quasi-judicial powers to the Metropolitan Police in various countries and this could be followed in Nepal as well.

Informing the parliament that the State Affairs and Good Governance Committee has also passed the provision that the Nepal Police shall look after the security of the Kathmandu Valley in coordination with the Province Police, he opined that the Nepal Police going on pension after completing 16 and 18 years of service is positive. He added that necessary study is on in this connection.

Home Minister Balkrishna Khand held a meeting CPN (Maoist Center) Chairman and former Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal to discuss the fresh bill to amend the ‘Citizenship Act-2006.

The meeting held at Dahal’s residence in Khumaltar of Lalitpur concluded on a positive note, according to the Home Minister’s Secretariat. It may be noted that the government had on August 17, 2018 registered the bill to amend the citizenship act in the parliament.

Later on June 23, 2020 the State Affairs and Good Governance Committee presented it along with its report to the House and the document was replaced by the new one on July 8.

Following the registration of the new bill, the Home Minister continued his political visits and talks in a bid to forge a wide consensus on it.

On Sunday evening, he had visited main opposition CPN (UML) parliamentary deputy leader Subash Chandra Nembang.

Japan’s governing party and its coalition partner scored a major victory in a parliamentary election Sunday imbued with meaning after the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe amid uncertainty about how his loss may affect party unity, Associated Press reported.

The Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner Komeito raised their combined share in the 248-seat chamber to 146 — far beyond the majority — in the elections for half of the seats in the less powerful upper house. 

With the boost, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida stands to rule without interruption until a scheduled election in 2025.

That would allow Kishida to work on long-term policies such as national security, his signature but still vague “new capitalism” economic policy, and his party’s long-cherished goal to amend the US-drafted postwar pacifist constitution. 

A charter change proposal is now a possibility. With the help of two opposition parties supportive of a charter change, the governing bloc now has two-thirds majority in the chamber needed to propose an amendment, making it a realistic possibility. The governing bloc already has secured support in the other chamber.

Kishida welcomed the major win but wasn’t smiling, given the loss of Abe and the hard task of unifying his party without him. In media interviews late Sunday, Kishida repeated: “Party unity is more important than anything else.”

He said responses to COVID-19, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and rising prices will be his priorities. He said he will also steadily push for reinforcing Japan’s national security as well a constitutional amendment, according to Associated Press.

Kishida and senior party lawmakers observed a moment of silence for Abe at the party election headquarters before placing on the whiteboard victory ribbons next to the names of candidates who secured their seats.

Abe, 67, was shot while giving a campaign speech in the western city of Nara on Friday and died of massive blood loss. He was Japan’s longest-serving political leader over two terms in office, and though he stepped down in 2020 was deeply influential in the LDP while heading its largest faction, Seiwakai.

“This could be a turning point” for the LDP over its divisive policies on gender equality, same-sex marriages and other issues that Abe-backed ultra-conservatives with paternalistic family values had resisted, said Mitsuru Fukuda, a crisis management professor at Nihon University.

Japan’s current diplomatic and security stance is unlikely to be swayed because fundamental changes had already been made by Abe. His ultra-nationalist views and pragmatic policies made him a divisive figure to many, including in the Koreas and China.

Following the assassination, Sunday’s vote took on new meaning, with all of Japan’s political leaders emphasizing the importance of free speech and defending democracy against acts of violence.

Abe’s killing may have resulted in sympathy votes. Turnout on Sunday was around 52%, up about 3 points from the previous 48.8% in 2019, Associated Press reported.

“It was extremely meaningful that we carried out the election,” Kishida said Sunday. “Our endeavor to protect democracy continues.”