Colombo:
Sri Lanka’s main opposition parties agreed on Sunday to form an interim all-party government following the expected resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Wednesday, following unprecedented political turmoil that forced him and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to tender their resignations due to the mistreatment of the paralyzing nation. economic crisis.
Opposition parties are reported to have held talks to find ways to move the country forward in the current unprecedented economic crisis following Rajapaksa’s resignation.
“We have agreed in principle to form a unity government with the participation of all parties for an interim period,” said Wimal Weerawansa of the breakaway group of the ruling Sri Lankan Podujana Peramuna party.
“This will be a government in which all parties are represented,” he said.
Vasudeva Nanayakkara, another leader of the SLPP breakaway group, said they should not wait for Rajapaksa to step down on July 13.
President Rajapaksa told parliament speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena on Saturday that he will resign on Wednesday after the country’s opposition parties called for his resignation. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has also offered to resign.
The main opposition party Samagi Jana Balawegaya said they have had extensive internal discussions.
“We are aiming for an interim government of all parties for a limited period and then go for parliamentary elections,” said Ranjith Madduma Bandara, general secretary of the SJB.
Leaders of the political parties represented in parliament will meet Monday afternoon to discuss the House convening to hand over power for a new government after Rajapaksa said he will step down.
Speaker Abeywardena told Rajapaksa on Saturday that opposition party leaders want him to resign after anti-government protesters broke through police barricades and broke into his offices and official residence.
Under the constitution, the incumbent prime minister would automatically be appointed as acting president for a short time until parliament votes and appoints a successor to the president.
The protesters also demand the resignation of Prime Minister Wickremesinghe. The resignation of both the president and prime minister would mean that Chairman Abeywardena would become the acting president.
Wickremesinghe has expressed a willingness to step down when a new government is formed.
He stressed on Saturday that it was important not to leave a vacuum to deal with the International Monetary Fund on a relief program and to cope with shortages of essentials, including food and fuel.
In a statement Saturday night, Wickremesinghe said: “This country is plagued by fuel and food shortages. An important visit is scheduled for next week by the World Food Program while crucial talks with the IMF must continue. So if the current government is to stop, it must be replaced by the following.” Meanwhile, the protesters who have occupied key government buildings since Saturday’s mass protests said they would not leave until Rajapaksa resigns. Sri Lankans roamed the looted presidential palace on Sunday. There were no reports of violence unlike Saturday.
The money-starved island nation witnessed a tumultuous day on Saturday as protesters broke into Rajapaksa’s official residence in Colombo. The protesters were seen in the bedrooms and splashing in the pool of the President’s House.
Protesters did not spare Prime Minister Wickremesinghe despite his offer to resign and set fire to his private home in an affluent neighborhood in the capital.
The chairman would become the acting president in the absence of both the president and the prime minister. Later, there must be an election among the MPs to elect a new president.
Meanwhile, five Sri Lankan ministers have announced their resignations after mass protests against the government.
The Chief of Defense Staff General Shavendra Silva on Sunday called on all Sri Lankans to support the armed forces and police to keep peace in the country.
In May, the older brother of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa had to resign over mass anti-government protests.
The Rajapaksa brothers, Mahinda and Gotabaya, were hailed by many in Sri Lanka as heroes for winning the civil war against the LTTE, but are now being blamed for the country’s worst economic crisis.
The expected departure of President Rajapaksa on Wednesday and the resignation of Mahinda Rajapaksa as prime minister in May is a dramatic fall from favor for a powerful family that has dominated Sri Lankan politics for more than a decade.
Sri Lanka, a country of 22 million people, is in the throes of an unprecedented economic turmoil, the worst in seven decades, crippled by an acute foreign exchange shortage that leaves it struggling to pay for essential imports of fuel and other essentials.
The country, facing an acute currency crisis that resulted in foreign debt default, announced in April that it was suspending repayments of nearly $7 billion for this year of the roughly $25 billion owed through 2026. Sri Lanka’s total foreign debt stands at $51 billion.
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