Sri Lanka crisis: Gotabaya Rajapaksa invites all parties to Cabinet to find solutions


The Hindu

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Sri Lanka crisis: Gotabaya Rajapaksa invites all parties to Cabinet to find solutions

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has invited all parties in Parliament to accept ministerial positions, and work with him to find solutions to Sri Lanka’s economic crisis. Attributing the crisis to “several economic factors and global developments”, Rajapaksa has sought solutions “within a democratic framework,” his office said.

His outreach comes a day after en masse resignations in Sri Lanka’s Cabinet, as anti-government protests escalate in the wake of a worsening economic downturn, marked by a crippling shortages and long power cuts. Scores of citizens have been protesting incessantly, even defying a curfew this weekend, asking the President and his government to step down. While all Ministers in Cabinet, including three Rajapaksas, resigned Sunday night, Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa remain in office.

“Considering this a national need, the time has come to work together for the sake of all the citizens and future generations. The President invites all political parties representing in the Parliament to come together to accept ministerial portfolios in order to find solutions to this national crisis,” said a statement issued by the Presidential Media Division on Monday morning.
A man waves a Sri Lankan flag as people shout slogans against Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and demand that Rajapaksa family politicians step down, during a protest amid the country’s economic crisis, at Independence square in Colombo on April 4, 2022.

Meanwhile, Sri Lankan police fired tear gas and water cannons at some 2,000 irate protesters who defied curfew orders and tried to storm Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa’s residence in Tangalle on April 4, demanding his resignation.

Around 2,000 people descended near the Prime Minister’s residence known as Carlton House in Tangalle, situated 200 km south of Colombo, and pulled down barricades chanting anti-Rajapaksa slogans. Interestingly, Tangalle, which has a Sinhalese-majority population, is considered to be the bastion of the powerful Rajapaksa clan.

According to eyewitness accounts, angry protesters managed to dodge the police and were seen running towards Rajapaksa’s gates clamouring for his resignation. The Government’s poor handling of the economic crisis where citizens currently endure long hours of power outages and scarcity of essentials has angered the public.

These protests have prompted the Government to declare an emergency and impose a 36-hour curfew and a social media ban.

The current economic turmoil and unrest in the island nation has precipitated a political flux with all 26 Cabinet Ministers submitting their resignation. On Monday, Sri Lankan President fired his brother and Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa and invited the Opposition parties to join a unity Cabinet to tackle the raging public anger against the hardships caused due to the country’s worst economic crisis.

Incidentally, Basil Rajapaksa had negotiated the Indian economic relief package to help Sri Lanka tackle the current foreign exchange crisis. He has been replaced by Ali Sabry, who was until Sunday night the Minister of Justice.

Basil Rajapaksa was scheduled to leave for the U.S. to meet with the International Monetary Fund for a possible bailout package to get over the unprecedented economic crisis. He was at the centre of anger within the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna coalition.

Last month, at least two Ministers were sacked from the Cabinet as they publicly criticised Basil Rajapaksa. After the resignation of the Cabinet Ministers, at least three other new Ministers were sworn in. Meanwhile, Governor of the Central Bank Ajith Nivard Cabraal also announced his resignation on April 4.

Samagi Jana Balavegaya, the principal Opposition party on April 4 termed this spate of resignations a “sham” and declined an invitation from the President to form an interim government.

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