Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena on Monday (11) told News Agency ANI that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is still in Sri Lanka.
The Speaker added that he made a mistake in the BBC interview in which he said that the President has left the island and is in a nearby country.
Earlier Abeywardena told BBC, “At the moment, he [Gotabaya Rajapaksa] is somewhere out, in a nearby country.”
The Speaker also told BBC that he will be interim President until Parliament can elect one.