{O/C} {Closer to home}
With tensions not simmering down anytime soon, Sri Lanka's interim president has had no choice but to impose a nationwide state of emergency that will curtail key rights of citizens and give him broad authority.
{RVO}
Ranil Wickremesinghe was installed as acting president on Friday after his beleaguered predecessor, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, went into exile and stepped down after months of often disputatious protests over the country's economic meltdown.
His move to declare a state of emergency enables him to regulate the interests of public security, the preservation of public order, the supression of dissent or the maintenance of indispensable supplies if need be.
Lawmakers who met on Saturday have kicked off the process of electing a new leader to fill in for Rajapaksa.
Nominations will be heard on Tuesday, and should there be more than one candidate, lawmakers will vote on Wednesday.
The South Indian island nation's political travails followed the country's economic calamity. As such, the country is still seeking assistance from the International Monetary Fund despite all the hurdles.
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