Sri Lanka Crisis: Gotabaya Rajapaksa's resignation as president to be announced at 7:30am local time, says speaker's office

Key members of Sri Lanka's ruling party want PM as presidentKey members of Sri Lanka's ruling party are keen to back Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as their presidential nominee though no decision has been taken yet, a top ruling party source told Reuters on Wednesday. The source said on condition of anonymity that the members met on Tuesday evening and their "overwhelming consensus" was for Wickremesinghe to replace President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who has fled to the Maldives after protesters stormed his residence on Saturday.

Sri Lanka's Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who oversaw a ruthless crushing of Tamil Tiger guerrillas to end a long-running civil war and went on to become president, had been due to step down on Wednesday to appease a population angry over several tumultuous months of economic and political crisis. He chose to do so by fleeing the country.

India on Wednesday categorically denied "baseless and speculative" media reports that it facilitated the travel of Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa who fled to the Maldives on a military jet in the face of a public revolt against his government for mishandling the country's economy. The 73-year-old Sri Lankan President fled the country along with his wife and two security officers on a military jet on Wednesday.

The Sri Lanka Air Force confirmed that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his wife left for the Maldives on Wednesday. "Under the provisions of the Constitution and on a request by the government, the Sri Lanka Air Force provided a plane early today to fly the president, his wife and two security officials to the Maldives," the statement said.

Anger at Sri Lanka's dire economic crisis has been simmering for months, with many laying the blame for widespread shortages and runaway inflation squarely at the feet of the ruling Rajapaksa family. Here are profiles of some key members of his powerful clan:

Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who is due to offer his resignation on Wednesday, has landed in the Maldivian capital of Malé, sources here said this morning. Quoting Maldivian sources, they said he was received by a Maldivian government representation at the Velana airport last night.

The Rajapaksa dynasty dominated Sri Lankan politics until April when street protests against fuel and food shortages began to slip out of control. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country early on Wednesday, leaving no one from the once- illustrious family in a position of power. The president vowed last month to stay on until his five-year term ended in 2024, despite the anger his tenure prompted among the people. Thousands of Sri Lankans stormed his official residence on Saturday, forcing him to go into hiding and agree to step down. He was to have done so on Wednesday.

Sri Lanka's parliamentary speaker had yet to receive President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's resignation letter though he has fled the country, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Wednesday. Rajapaksa left the country early on Wednesday for the Maldives, said a source close to him. Asked if the president had sent his resignation, the source said: "Today evening he will send it."