The UN mission in Sri Lanka has urged senior politicians to ensure a peaceful transfer of power in line with the national Constitution, following weeks of protests that finally saw the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Thursday.

“The United Nations in Sri Lanka urges all stakeholders to ensure a peaceful transition of power in full respect for the Constitution,” said United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator Hanaa Singer, in a statement issued on Friday on behalf of the UN in Sri Lanka. She said it was “imperative that the transition of power is accompanied by broad and inclusive consultation within and outside Parliament”.

This statement comes as Rajapaksa offered his resignation after fleeing the country and arriving in Singapore, having first flown to the Maldives on Wednesday after tens of thousands of protesters stormed his official residence in the capital Colombo earlier in the week.

The island nation has been reeling under a major economic crisis that has created acute shortages of food, fuel, medical supplies, and left the country teetering on the edge of economic ruin, having entered discussions with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over an emergency bailout.

In her statement, Singer recalled that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has highlighted the importance of addressing the root causes of the current instability and the people’s grievances.

Dialogue with all stakeholders is the best way to address the concerns of fulfil the aspirations of all Sri Lankans, she said.

She added that the authorities now needed to “ensure that in maintaining law and order, the security forces exercise restraint and operate in strict compliance with human rights principles and standards”.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in as president on a temporary basis on Friday, and Sri Lanka’s parliamentarians are due to begin the process of selecting a new president on Saturday, before taking a formal vote on 20 July.

Singer said that the United Nations stood ready to “support the Government and people of Sri Lanka, to address both immediate and long-term needs”.
Sri Lanka’s multiple crises have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic which saw the collapse of the crucial tourism industry, which provides foreign currency for imported fuel and medical supplies, and rocked by the supply chain crisis precipitated by the Ukraine war.

Some 22 per cent of the population are food insecure and in need of assistance said the World Food Programme last month, and the UN has launched a joint Humanitarian Needs and Priorities Plan, requesting more than USD 47 million to aid around 1.7 million of the worst impacted.