Sri Lankan parliament speaker says president will resign as announced earlier

COLOMBO, July 13 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka's Speaker of Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena said on Wednesday that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had informed him that he will hand over his resignation letter later in the day as announced earlier.

Abeywardena also confirmed that a new president will be elected on July 20 in parliament.

Rajapaksa on Wednesday appointed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to perform and discharge the powers and duties of the president as he was away from the country.

Earlier in the day, the Prime Minister's Office confirmed that Rajapaksa has left the country for the Maldives.

In a televised statement Wednesday after protesters stormed his office, Wickremesinghe said he has instructed the military and police "to do what is necessary to restore order."

The demonstrators "want to stop me from discharging my responsibilities as acting president," he added. "We can't allow fascists to take over."

Wickremesinghe has declared a nationwide state of emergency. The police have imposed a curfew in the Western Province, including in capital Colombo, as protestors gathered outside the Prime Minister's Office calling for his resignation.

Protestors broke into state television on Wednesday afternoon and the transmission of state television has gone off air.