PM in charge
COLOMBO – Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, who returned from Italy on Monday (20), has taken charge of governing the country, filling in for President Gotabaya Rajapaksa who is attending his first UN conference in New York, and is scheduled to address the General Assembly on Monday (21).
Both the President and the Prime Minister were out of the country on Sunday (19), effectively making Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardhane the highest-ranking official in the country. The President left for the USA on Saturday (18), and the Prime Minister has been away from the country since September 10, attending the G20 Interfaith Forum Italy-2021, in Bologna, where he delivered the keynote address at the inaugural session of the Forum last Sunday (12.)
Reportedly he also held several high-level meetings and also held cordial discussions with Sri Lankan expatriates from various parts of Italy. Segments of the expatriate population also staged protests demanding the Sri Lankan government expedite investigations into the Easter Sunday bombings.
-ENCL