Soon after resigning, he made a tweet urging the general public to exercise restraint.
New Delhi:
As nationwide protests intensify, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned on Monday, a move that is likely to pave the way for a new cabinet in the troubled country.
A few days ago, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, in a special meeting on Friday, requested the prime minister to step down as a solution to the ongoing political crisis in the country, Sri Lanka’s Daily Mirror reported.
Now that the prime minister has resigned, President Rajapaksa is expected to invite all political parties to parliament to form an all-party cabinet.
Earlier, the opposition party Samagi Jana Balvegaya (SJB) confirmed that its leader Sajith Premadasa would not accept the post of PM in the interim government.
On Monday morning, protesters demonstrated in front of the Prime Minister’s official residence Temple Trees and urged Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa not to resign.
After meeting the prime minister, they clashed with anti-government protesters near the Temple Tree. At least 16 people who were injured have been admitted to the Colombo National Hospital.
Soon after resigning, he made a tweet urging the general public to exercise restraint.
Mahinda said in a statement, “When emotions are running high in #lka, I urge our general public to exercise restraint and remember that violence only breeds violence. The economic crisis in which we need an economic solution. There is a need, which this administration is committed to solve.” Tweet.
Responding to Mahinda’s tweet, former Sri Lankan cricketer Kumar Sangakkara said, “The violence was perpetrated only by your ‘supporters’ – goons and thugs, who came to your office before attacking the peaceful protesters.”
Sri Lanka has been plunged into weeks of economic crisis stemming from a foreign exchange crunch, which has cut essential supplies such as fuel, food and medicines.
The protests have been going on for days calling on the government and MPs to find an immediate solution.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)