you are watching al jazeera. sri lankans have been celebrating after the president submitted a letter of resignation. the speaker of parliament said it must be checked for authenticity. a russian airstrike has killed at least 23 people in one of ukraine's largest cities. many were injured as the missiles hit residential buildings.

u.s. president joe biden and israeli president lapid have signed a declaration to prevent iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. >> today, you and i discussed america's commitment to ensuring that iran never obtains a nuclear weapon. this is a vital security interest to israel and the united states and the rest of the world as well. i believe that diplomacy is the best way to achieve this outcome, and we will continue to work with israel to counter threats from iran from around the region, including support for the terroristic ballistic missiles program. >> molly's transitional government has ordered -- the suspension is expected to last until talks are held to

coordinate a new agreement. members of parliament for the british conservative party have completed their second vote on who will replace boris johnson. those were the headlines. i am back with more on the next half-hour. next it is "inside story." do stay with us. ♪ >> who was in charge in sri lanka? the president has fled instead of resigning it. the acting president has imposed a curfew, and protesters want him to step down.

is there a way to prevent a crisis in the power vacuum? this is "inside story." ♪ hello and welcome. sri lanka possible political turmoil is deepening. president gotabaya rakapksa said he would step down by thursday. the army has been cleared to use force if necessary to maintain order. sri lankans say the developments are unacceptable. protesters have decided to leave the government buildings they had occupied, but they are adamant they will continue. >> everything is lost.

all this fighting, fighting because of food and money. that's why the people go home. a new government, a people's government. >> with them, no corruption will be fixed. >> ranil came to power promising to solve problems, and he doesn't do anything. during election time, they embraced people but haven't delivered anything. they have to go. >> more from colombo -- >> they are heading to the

presidents house now. protesters are shouting slogans. they said to come and nowa we are going to regroup and continue to protest elsewhere. it has never been our goal to occupy government buildings. they've occupied since saturday when more than 200,000 protesters stormed the residency, this old colonial building, but also the secretary, the prime minister's house. they will keep rallying grounds near the president's secretary. what happened on wednesday, violence at parliament, storming parliament, they said that was never the intention, and they want to regroup. they are asking for president gotabaya rajapaksa to officially resign. if you will not, they want

parliament to impeach him or abolish his executive powers. >> as you know, the prime minister is not the acting president and says he is the acting president. the tactics have been to create discord among protesters and create violent incidents, but that is not what the people who came here -- the people who came here with a july 9 event, of course, there will be elements trying to cause discord, but we will always fight against violent elements. >> in the past couple of days, thousands of sri lankans have visited this residence. you seen people in his pool and sitting in his fitness area, but it is a broad coalition of different groups, and they are

worried that there will be splintering or cracks happening. that is why they are regrouping and packing up their stuff at the residence of the president and will continue somewhere else, but they hope that parliament takes the lead in impeaching or abolishing the executive powers of ranil wickremesinghe and gotabaya rajapaksa. host: let's bring in our guests. a former minister. mr. carrera is -- then a lawyer and a member of national people's power, the opposition coalition. thanks for your time. who is in control of the country? >> who is in control? the government is in control,

but it is tenuous control. the government has lost its legitimacy. it has a majority in parliament, but the people have nullified it. they've nullified it by the peaceful revolution that took place where the president had to flee the country. it is a very unsettled situation . problems are not being solved. problems are massive in the country. lines are extremely long. two or three kilometers long, people are staying three or four days waiting for petrol. prices have doubled. people's standard of living has collapsed, and our leaders are not taking action. they are not cohesively coming up with an economic plan for a

revival of the country. we >> are going to get onto these issues, but let me bring in our other guest to tell us who you think is in control and whether there is a power vacuum right now. >> in a sense, the people are in control. there is a lack of sanity, and it is about time sri lanka gets on its way. it is not about the legitimacy but the credibility. people have lost trust. right now, the opposition, including all other political parties, met yesterday and today, and we have asked to speak with parliament tomorrow where leaders of all political parties will meet to speak and

ask to summon a parliament where we can appoint a prime minister, a consensual prime minister, and then appoint a president. we are working towards that to have a unity government for a period to stabilize the country. >> on the issue of the succession plan, is this going to be an easy task? you say there is a meeting tomorrow. what do you expect to come out of it? >> it will be made much easier if gotabaya rajapaksa submits his letter of resignation. then there is an automatic process it's the same way the prime minister can be appointed

if a majority in parliament survives. we think the parties working together can have a majority in parliament, and then amongst us, have a government that will take us to the reform process and stabilize the economy to a point and go to the election at a particular point. the question is we have not seen the president letter yet. >> that is exactly it. under the constitution, it is the prime minister who steps up if the president resigns, but since we have not seen the resignation, how uncertain is the path? >> it's like this.

he has not resigned. we have not seen the letter. ranil wickremesinghe has been appointed the acting president, but nobody has seen the edict issued to that effect. it cannot be for him indefinite period. none of those formalities have been followed, so the problem remains with the prime minister. all the orders he issues in the acting capacity are unlawful and could stand for treason. there is a huge problem with ranil wickremesinghe appointed as acting prime minister, so this is why there is unrest. people do not know what is going on the. in the absence of them showing

the execution, this constitutional crisis and the instability will continue. >> we have a situation now where the prime minister has been issuing orders. he ordered the army to use force if necessary. seeing that the prime minister is considered the present tense deputy in parliament, and with him being unpopular in sri lanka, where does it lead things? >> this is what i am trying to say. people do not trust this government. the slogan is, gotabaya rajapaksa, go home. ranil wickremesinghe, go home. he claims to be acting as the president, but then he should be

appointing a prime minister. he should not be a prime minister and president both. there is a crisis, as was pointed out earlier, if gotabaya rajapaksa does not submit the letter. even the trade unions and country would go to general strikes. life has already been crippled, lack of food, lack of income, shortness of fuel. it will continue to destabilize and get a really bad levels. >> there is this meeting taking place tomorrow as we have been hearing from our guests. even if they come up with some consensus agreement, is that something the public is going to

accept? at the end of the day, doesn't it risk the same faces staying in this position for the same period. >> what the people have been asking for, the civil society, it is an all-party interim government. the all-party interim government selected by consensus would take the country out of its current predicament, find a solution to the most pressing shortages. i think people would accept that. they don't want that to continue.

that is what they have been rewarding against. there is a unified sense among the people that this government must go. >> the issue for a lot of people is they are concerned by political corruption in the country that has been taking place to many years. to what extent has this deepened the mistrust in government as a whole? >> what has happened is people are blaming this government and leadership and the gotabaya rajapaksa family in particular. it is not just this leadership that has been corrupt, but previous leaderships have been corrupt and have to take part in the responsibility, but this government was blatant about it. they had a sense of entitlement.

the president when he won the election aggregated to himself more powers from parliament and proceeded to make terrible decisions. he immediately declared tax cuts for the rich and began banning chemical fertilizers and tried to make sri lanka organic overnight. also, the incredible corruption so that people on the street believed that the government leader actually had a loads of dollars out of the country, and that is why we do not have foreign exchange. the blame comes solidly on this government even though previous governments are also responsible. >> is the priority now to get politics back on track or the

economy? >> i think both have to be done the. we need political credibility and trust and economic credibility and trust. we have to listen to the sounds on the ground from the protesters. more transparency, more action against corruption. the new consensus government will have to make those moves in the first few months so people have confidence, and for 20 or 30 years, we have not done economic reforms. we have to make a lot of changes. >> speaking of changes, let me ask you about one, the 20th amendment. it re-concentrated power in the presidency itself.

is that something that the opposition is going to look to abolish? >> of course. we have already given a draft bill to government calling it the 21st amendment, and that deals with the aspirations of what the country has been asking for. some members have come up with an alternate 22nd amendment that doesn't go as far. we are trying to find a compromise where the president's are stripped. we are going to go as far as we can for what the people are asking. that will be the first step, political credibility. we need to work with the imf and get the reform process going and restructure the debt.

>> speaking of the imf, how difficult will negotiations be? sri lanka is going into these negotiations as a bankrupt country. >> things will be hard and difficult, and there is no doubt we will need to seek third-party help. our bargaining powers are limited. they will look to impose conditions so that the country will be more accountable. lack of accountability has been the biggest curse. it will be a tough road ahead, and we need a unity approach. we need the cooking gas, the fuel, fertilizer for farmers, and to open the schools that

have been closed. this is going to be the task for the interim government, but they will have to start negotiating and opening up channels to see what happens. therefore, the first three or four months or six months, we have to address these issues, but thereafter, we have to battle in other negotiations. it is not going to be easy. >> when the imf gives a bailout, as you know, the bailouts come with austerity, which generally affects the poor. >> you are right. that is where the imf has gone. what is important is the negotiation.

there are places we can shave off and cut off without touching the poor masses. after the coronavirus closed down, if you tried to cut off things from the people -- >> obviously, the immediate priority is to get food and fuel and medicine for the people. how do you think it will play out with the imf negotiations, as well as india and china who have stepped up or provided loans to sri lanka up until this point. >> india has been very generous to sri lanka. it has given $3.5 billion in credit lines. it is the ending of the credit

line that has created this enormous fuel crisis. the imf negotiations and plan that sri lanka will have to take , they will be difficult ones to take, and that is why we need a government that people can trust and can go to the people and explain it to them. there are a lot of major reforms needed. public service is one million strong our defense budget is 15% , double that of health and education combined. there is a need for those types of reforms that can be done, but which will be difficult and will need a courageous and bold government, which will have to think more of the government and of themselves and of their futures, and be trusted by the

people. >> that is the key thing. in your opinion, what are the most immediate steps that need to be taken in order to alleviate pressure of the suffering of the people? >> the shortage of oil and gas are the key problems, but that is only a symptom of the main issue. the main issue is solvency. we need to do the restructuring process as fast as possible. we should be able to get the executive board to approve the external funds, which is about $3 million by the end of the year. for the interim, we need to find some funding.

if we do that, and we go into restructuring successfully, confidence builds up, and sri lanka can ease out of the problem. also the poor, austerity measures, the imf will support us. you can't do without that. you need to help the poor. we will also have to do some cash transfer while we do the reforms. there is no easy way out. the government has to tell people exactly that it will not finish in six months or three months. it will take time, but we are taking the right measures. talking truth to people is very important.

>> our final words to you. we are talking about how to gain trust of the people, but how does the country went back international credibility and trust? >> international credibility -- there are no shortcuts to gaining credibility, but accountability and dealing as a nation without selling out to china or another, and that will only start after a fresh election with a new parliament. right now, this parliament is not trusted and not believed. trust building first. locally, people must trust their government, and once they start trusting the government, people

will work. without winning the credibility of the public -- >> 30 seconds remaining. how do the people of sri lanka get accountability from their leaders? >> accountability has been focused on the issue about what happens during the war. we also have to deal with accountability issues related to economic crimes. robbery, corruption. i think people are more prepared for that. in terms of ethnic conflict, this crisis has brought our people together. on the streets are many who say, we will not be deceived by leaders who want only our vote.

>> we will have to leave it there. thank you for watching the. you can see the program any time by visiting our website al jazeera.com. to join the conversation on twitter, for myself and the whole team, goodbye for now. ■?ñcñcñcñc■x■x úç