New Delhi:
As the nationwide protest intensifies, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned on Monday, a move likely to pave the way for a new cabinet in the crisis-ravaged country.
This comes days after President Gotbaya Rajapaksa called on the prime minister in a special meeting on Friday to step down as a solution to the country’s ongoing political crisis, the Sri Lankan Daily Mirror reported.
Now that the prime minister has stepped down, President Rajapaksa is expected to invite all political parties in parliament to form an all-party cabinet.
Earlier, opposition party Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) confirmed that its leader Sajith Premadasa will not accept the post of prime minister in an interim government.
On Monday morning, protesters staged a demonstration in front of the Temple Trees, the prime minister’s official residence, and urged Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa not to resign.
After meeting the Prime Minister, they clashed with anti-government protesters near the Temple Trees. At least 16 injured have been admitted to Colombo National Hospital.
The resignation came shortly after he posted a tweet urging the general public to exercise restraint.
“While emotions are running high in #lka, I urge our general public to exercise restraint and to remember that violence only breeds violence. The economic crisis we are in needs an economic solution that this government wants to solve” , Mahinda said in a tweet.
Commenting on Mahinda’s tweet, former Sri Lankan cricketer Kumar Sangakkara said: “The only violence was perpetrated by your ‘supporters’ – outlaws and thugs who first came to your office before attacking the peaceful protesters.”
Sri Lanka has been plunged into weeks of economic crisis due to a shortage of foreign exchange, which has led to a shortage of essential supplies such as fuel, food and medicine.
Protests have been going on for days, calling on the government and lawmakers to find urgent solutions.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.)