Colombo: Sri Lanka’s troubled PM Mahinda RajapakseFresh pressure has been mounted on his younger brother and his repeated refusal to resign at a special cabinet meeting held before the imposition of emergency by the President. Gotabaya Rajapakse,
The special cabinet meeting was held on Friday as protests erupted in the country over the government’s inability to deal with the economic slowdown that has caused unprecedented hardship to the public.
A ministerial source said, “There were opinions during the cabinet, some suggested that the PM should resign. The President also wanted to see an end to the political crisis with the resignation of the Prime Minister.” The old PM had insisted him to stay because public demand was high for Gotabaya’s resignation. The 72-year-old president has for weeks wanted the PM to resign to form an all-party interim government. However, Mahinda had said in the cabinet meeting that he would resign immediately if the successor resolved the matter. Economic CrisisAccording to the source, he did not explicitly say that he would resign. Mahinda has earlier insisted that he will be the head if there is an interim government.
The government on Saturday defended the imposition of a state of emergency for the second time in more than a month, saying it was needed to deal with the “worst economic crisis and political instability”, even as the president faced opposition. And the move suffered from foreign envoys.
The special cabinet meeting was held on Friday as protests erupted in the country over the government’s inability to deal with the economic slowdown that has caused unprecedented hardship to the public.
A ministerial source said, “There were opinions during the cabinet, some suggested that the PM should resign. The President also wanted to see an end to the political crisis with the resignation of the Prime Minister.” The old PM had insisted him to stay because public demand was high for Gotabaya’s resignation. The 72-year-old president has for weeks wanted the PM to resign to form an all-party interim government. However, Mahinda had said in the cabinet meeting that he would resign immediately if the successor resolved the matter. Economic CrisisAccording to the source, he did not explicitly say that he would resign. Mahinda has earlier insisted that he will be the head if there is an interim government.
The government on Saturday defended the imposition of a state of emergency for the second time in more than a month, saying it was needed to deal with the “worst economic crisis and political instability”, even as the president faced opposition. And the move suffered from foreign envoys.