Minister of Urban Development and Housing Prasanna Ranatunga on Monday said that Sri Lanka's parliament will reconvene on July 15 and the party leaders have decided to elect a new president on July 20, if President Gotabaya Rajapaksa resigns on July 13, local media Newswire reported.

"Nominations for the next president will be presented to parliament on July 19. On July 20 the parliament will vote to elect a new president," Speaker of Sri Lanka's Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena confirmed in a statement.

Abeywardena on Monday also clarified that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is still in the country, saying that he "made a mistake in the (BBC) interview" in which he said the president was "in a nearby country."