Rajapaksa was forced to flee on Saturday after protesters stormed the presidential palace in Colombo. After political crisis talks, the parliament speaker announced that Rajapaksa would resign that same day, but the president himself has remained silent until now.
According to local media, the aim is for parliament to appoint an acting president within a week, after which a new prime minister, an interim government and ultimately elections.
Prime Minister Wickremesinghe, who has only been in power for two months, has already said he wants to step down to make room for a government of national unity. The people of Sri Lanka have been protesting for some time because of the severe economic crisis that is plaguing the island state, which is accompanied by food, fuel and medicine shortages.
