Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned on Monday, his office said, after his supporters brutally attacked peaceful anti-government protesters amid a worsening economic crisis in the island.
“The PM sent his resignation to the President about two hours ago. I don’t know if it has been accepted,” Rohan Velivita, media secretary to the prime minister, told Hindu, If the President accepts it, the cabinet will be dissolved according to the Constitution of Sri Lanka. It will seek the formation of a new, interim government under President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who remains in office despite mounting calls for his resignation, as citizens protest his “failed” crisis response.
A Sri Lankan Catholic priest reacts when he and other anti-government protesters were attacked by government supporters outside the residence of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa in Colombo, Sri Lanka on May 9, 2022. photo credit: AP