 The political crisis in Sri Lanka reached its peak last week with the complete collapse of the ruling dispensation. President Gautabaya Rajapaksa has pledged to resign on July 13th following massive protests that have been rocking the country for months now. On the morning of July 9th, President Gautabaya Rajapaksa fled as tens of thousands of protesters stormed the presidential palace. By evening, Prime Minister Ranil Vikramasinghi announced that he will also resign to make way for the formation of an all-party government. Sri Lanka's main opposition party on Sunday agreed in principle to form an all-party internal government. So the President has indicated that he will be resigning on the 13th, that is tomorrow. And the Prime Minister has also indicated that he will resign, but it's not clear from him when he plans to do so, so that's still somewhat open. Parliament has been summoned on the 15th, presumably to announce the resignation of the President, which will set in motion the constitutional steps that will have to be then taken. If the Prime Minister has resigned by then, which is what we are all demanding, then the Speaker will act as temporary President. If the Prime Minister hasn't resigned, the Prime Minister will step into the presidency till the new President is elected. The Speaker has already announced that on the 20th of this month, that is next week, Parliament will be expected to vote on a new President from among its members and has called for nominations for candidates who wish to contest for this election in Parliament. So that's the procedure, but of course, one week is a long time in politics and we are waiting to see what will happen tomorrow and in the days to come. And the protesters are also quite alert to the possibilities of dramatic changes and shifts taking place, so it's a very tense time here. The key issue right now is the lack of political stability and this lack of political stability will not come about through just sort of manoeuvring or manipulating what is currently in Parliament. We actually need fresh elections and we need fresh elections fast and that is what we are pushing for. So an interim administration that is more in terms of a chaotic government that will manage the situation till a fresh election is called, till Parliament is dissolved and an election is called as soon as possible. That interim government may be able to do certain things to manage the current issues that people are facing a little more efficiently, but nothing more can be expected from them because the meaningful steps that are unnecessary to resolve the economic crisis will have to be done by a government that has the mandate of the people, mandate and the trust of the people. A fresh wave of anti-government Gota-Gogama protests erupted on Saturday seeking the prolonged demand for the resignation of President Gota Bayaraja Paksa who has been under fire for the country's ongoing economic crisis. The economic crisis has been characterized by a foreign exchange shortage and a subsequent scarcity of essentials such as food, fuel and medicines. Saturday's massive demonstration was triggered by the fuel shortage that the country has been drilling under for weeks now. People have been forced to wait for days in queues to buy fuel. Fuel drives were reported in many parts of the capital, Colombo. The economic crisis forced the government to announce a shutdown of public sector offices starting June 20th as well as shift schools in the national capital to online mode. Food inflation touched 80% in June. In mid-May the Sri Lankan Central Bank declared a preemptive default on all of its total foreign debt which stands at 51 billion US dollars. The government's solution was to seek IMF support. While this was expected to help in the short run, many experts pointed out that following IMF policies was what led to the crisis in the first place. Sri Lanka has entered into agreements with the IMF 16 times already. Meanwhile, the World Food Program's report on Sri Lanka has presented some alarming details on the ongoing food security crisis in the island nation. According to it, 4.9 million out of Sri Lanka's 22 million population are currently facing food insecurity. An estimated 5.7 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in 25 districts across the country after months of economic meltdown. To tackle the rising food cost, people in Sri Lanka have switched to coping mechanisms like eating less nutritious food or limiting portion sizes. The study also found that nearly 66% of the population was reducing their daily number of meals. It is unclear how the new government will tackle these crises.