Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in as Sri Lankan acting president before the chief justice on Friday, following the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

Wickremesinghe said on Friday that he would follow constitutional process and establish law and order in the country. He asked lawmakers to work towards a consensus to establish an all-party government in the crisis-ridden country.

Sri Lankan Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena said earlier on Friday that he had received the resignation letter of Gotabaya Rajapaksa. "From this point, we will move to constitutionally appoint a new president." 

Rajapaksa arrived in Singapore following a stopover in the Maldives, after he fled Sri Lanka amid a wave of unrest as his island nation grapples with its worst economic crisis in decades.

(With input from Reuters)