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Sri Lankan immigration officials said on Tuesday they prevented the president's brother and former finance minister Basil Rajapaksa from flying out of the country, as anger mounted against the powerful family for a debilitating economic crisis.

It was not immediately clear where Rajapaksa, who also holds U.S. citizenship, was trying to go. He resigned as finance minister in early April as street protests surged against shortages of fuel, food and other necessities, and quit his seat in parliament in June.

His elder brother Gotabaya Rajapaksa will resign as president on Wednesday to make way for a unity government, after thousands of protesters stormed his and the prime minister's official residences on Saturday demanding their ouster.

The president has not been seen in public since Friday and his whereabouts are unclear. Parliament will elect his replacement on July 20.

The main opposition party has nominated its leader Sajith Premadasa, the son of an assassinated president, for the post. The ruling party is to decide on a nominee later in the day.