Speaker of Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena announced this in a special statement delivered at a media briefing held at his residence this morning.

The Speaker appealed to all political party leaders, state officials, security forces and the members of the public to extend their support to this democratic process.

The procedure for election of the President when the office of President shall become vacant (In terms of Presidential Elections (Special Provisions) Act No. 2 of 1981.)

Where the office of President becomes vacant in terms of paragraph (1) of Article 38 of the Constitution, as provided by Article 40 of the Constitution, Parliament shall elect as President one of its members who is qualified to be elected to the office of President, to hold office for the unexpired period of the term of office of the President vacating office. This election is held in accordance with the provisions of the Presidential Elections (Special Provisions) Act No. 2 of 1981.
In particular, this process is led by the Secretary General of Parliament and the Speaker also has a vote in this election. Also for this process the Parliament will meet for 3 days.