LAST UPDATE: 10.11
Sri Lankan President Ghotambaya Rajapaxa today called on all opposition parties to join a national unity government to tackle the deepening economic crisis in the country, with demonstrations expected to demand his resignation.
Twenty-six ministers, with the exception of the president and his older brother, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakha, submitted their resignations late Sunday night.
“Given the national needs, it is time to work together for the benefit of all citizens and future generations,” Razapaxa’s office said in a statement. “The president calls on all political parties represented in parliament to accept ministerial posts and join the effort to find solutions to the national crisis,” he added.
Earlier, the Colombo Stock Exchange had interrupted its session, with the main index diving 5.92% shortly after the start of trading, in response to the resignation of almost the entire government.
The country of 22 million people is facing shortages of basic food, fuel, medicine, while there are long power outages every day and inflation has reached record levels.
The government, which has acknowledged that it is the worst economic crisis Sri Lanka has faced since gaining independence from Britain in 1948, has sought the help of the International Monetary Fund, but negotiations with it may last until the end. of the year.
The army and police have been put on alert, while the 36-hour curfew expired at dawn today, despite intelligence services warning of further unrest.
New mobilizations
“According to the information we have, we can expect new demonstrations,” a senior security official told AFP.
President Razapaxa declared a state of emergency on Friday, a day after an angry mob tried to storm his home in Colombo.
Hundreds of people took to the streets all night last Sunday, protesting peacefully in several cities on the island and denouncing the president’s handling of the crisis.
“Go away Gotha, go away Gotha,” protesters shouted in the Razagiriya district, near parliament, while in the Negombo district, near the international airport, crowds shouted: “Gota failed, you failed.”
The curfew, which lasted all day yesterday, prevented larger demonstrations and blocked access to social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Whatsapp, as denounced by the main opposition coalition. Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB).
Late yesterday came this blockade, which the Human Rights Committee had declared illegal.
Activists have warned that larger demonstrations will take place today in key cities demanding the resignation of President Razapax and his close associates.
Bad political decisions have exacerbated Sri Lanka’s economic woes, according to economists, such as tax cuts imposed shortly before the covid-19 pandemic, reducing government revenue and increasing debt.
SOURCE: AMPE
Source: Capital
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