Sri Lanka’s government confirmed president Gotabaya Rajapaksa will resign amid reports that the president fled the country on Monday. A statement from the office of PM Ranil Wickremesinghe said “Rajapaksa has officially informed the PM that he will be resigning”, in the most formal confirmation yet that the president intends to step down later this week. The country’s parliament will reconvene on 15 July and a new president will be elected by MPs on 20 July. Sri Lanka’s main opposition leader, Sajith Premadasa, told the BBC he intends to run for the post after his Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) party held talks with allies to get support for the move.