Prime Minister Sri LankaMahinda Rajapaksa, resigned in the middle crisis economy that sparked major unrest in the country.
“The prime minister has sent his letter of resignation to the president,” a Sri Lankan official told Reuters.
However, there has been no official statement from either Mahinda or President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
Mahinda is Gotabaya’s younger brother. A number of parties, including demonstrators and lawmakers from the ruling party, have been urging Mahinda to step down since the crisis began simmering last month.
Mahinda had refused on the pretext that she had parliamentary support at the end of last April. At that time, he emphasized that he would not resign even though the pressure from the people was getting bigger.
“The majority of parliamentarians want me. Maybe there are some who want me to resign. People have to be patient in dealing with this crisis,” Mahinda said at the end of April.
He later asserted, “There can be no interim government without me as prime minister.”
However, the public and a number of members of parliament continue to demand Mahinda resign. The demands grew louder after one of the demonstrators, Chamida Lakshan, was killed by police gunfire.
One of Gotabaya’s former staunch supporters and a member of the Sri Lankan parliament, Nalaka Godahewa, said the president should fire the prime minister.
According to him, the government lost its credibility after the police shot one of the demonstrators.
“We must restore political stability in order to successfully get through this economic crisis. The entire cabinet, including the prime minister, must resign. [harus ada] An interim cabinet that can win the trust of all parties,” he said.
Several other senior members of the ruling party, including former Media Minister and Cabinet Spokesperson, Dullas Alahapperuma, also called on the PM to step down.
“I urge the president to appoint a small cabinet with a real consensus that brings all parties in parliament” [untuk menjalankan roda pemerintahan] a maximum of one year,” said Alahapperuma.
This cabinet reshuffle is considered important in the midst of the acute economic crisis that has stifled Sri Lanka. The crisis is getting worse due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
(has/bac)
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