"It is expedient, so to do, in the interests of public security, the protection of public order and the maintenance of supplies and services essential to the life of the community," the notification stated.
Wickremesinghe, an ally of Rajapaksa, is one of the top contenders to take on the presidency full-time but protesters also want him gone, leading to the prospect of further unrest should he be elected.
Sri Lanka's protest movement reached its 100th day Sunday, having forced one president from office and now turning its sights on his successor as the country's economic crisis continues.
Sri Lanka is facing its worst economic crisis since independence from British rule in 1948, with a severe foreign exchange shortage hampering the import of essentials including food, fuel and medicines. Its foreign debt is over USD 50 billion with repayments this year falling to the tune of USD 7 billion.
As the crisis emerged in March, a handful of individuals gathered in a small group holding placards to demand basic necessities like milk powder and a regular power supply.
Within days, Sri Lankans were forced to wait in miles-long queues to get fuel and cooking gas and suffered from multiple hours of power outages. Some 20 people even died while waiting for their turn in the serpentine queues in scorching heat.
Enough was enough for the people having waited each passing day for the government to respond, respond positively. But the Rajapaksa government did not offer any solutions and there was no end to the people's suffering.
The government declared bankruptcy in mid-April by refusing to honour its international debt. The situation created a thriving black market where people paid to secure a place in the queue and fuel was sold 4 times higher than the legal retail price.
With no end to their sufferings, people across Sri Lanka took to the streets calling for resignations of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his elder brother Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. The Rajapaksas, a powerful dynasty that ruled Sri Lanka for nearly two decades, has been blamed for the country's economic ruin.
These protesters have been at the forefront of the popular 'Aragalaya' movement - named after the Sinhalese word for "struggle" - calling for the resignation of President Gotabaya and his elder brother Mahinda.
The slogan attracted students, activists, youths and the people from all walks of life, who joined the protest overcoming the deep ethnic and religious divide in the country.
