Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has agreed to remove his brother Mahinda Rajapaksa from the post of Prime Minister during a prolonged worsening economic crisis. The news agency AP has given this information. Former Sri Lankan President and sitting MP Maithripala Sirisena said after a meeting with the President that Gotabaya Rajapaksa had agreed that a National Council would be appointed in the name of a new Prime Minister and the cabinet would include MPs from all political parties.
Sirisena was the President before Rajapaksa. He was a ruling party MP before defecting earlier this month along with around 40 other MPs. Sri Lanka is on the verge of bankruptcy and the island nation has announced that it is suspending repayment of its foreign debt. It has to pay $7 billion in foreign debt this year, and $25 billion by 2026. Its foreign exchange reserves have dwindled to less than a billion dollars. The shortage of foreign exchange has badly affected imports, with people waiting in queues for hours for food items, fuel, cooking gas, and medicine.
Gotabaya and his family, including Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, have dominated almost every region of Sri Lanka for the past 20 years. People who have been protesting on the streets since March have blamed him for the current crisis. However, after getting caught in the economic crisis, the anti-government mass movement has been going on in Sri Lanka for almost a month. The agitators are demanding the Rajapaksa family leave power. During these several times, Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his brother Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa had flatly rejected the demand for resignation. But according to the latest information, now Sri Lankan President Gotabaya has agreed to remove his brother from the post of Prime Minister.
The dissidents of the ruling party informed India about the political situation
Rebels of the ruling SLPP coalition in Sri Lanka, represented by the Sri Lanka Freedom People's Party (SLFP) led by former President Maithripala Sirisena, met Indian High Commissioner Gopal Baglay and asked him to explain the current political deadlock and worst economic slowdown in the country. informed about his plans for an interim government arrangement to overcome. These members of the SLFP are included in the ruling 'Sri Lanka People's Party (SLPP) in Sri Lanka, but they have taken a rebellious stand.
He met Baglay here on Thursday. The meeting took place on the eve of a meeting called by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to form an all-party government to counter the economic crisis. SLFP general secretary Dayasiri Jayasekhar said, "We met the Indian High Commissioner to brief him about the interim government arrangement." He said, "This is not a power-sharing arrangement, but a system to get the country out of the economic crisis. This is our responsibility as MPs."
Confirming the meeting, the Indian High Commission here tweeted that High Commissioner Baglay met the group of MPs and reiterated India's commitment to continue supporting Sri Lanka. Sharing the picture of the meeting, the Indian High Commission tweeted, "The MPs thank the people of India for standing with the people of Sri Lanka. He expressed his opinion on the current economic and political situation in Sri Lanka with the High Commissioner.
He said the number of dissidents of the SLFP and SLPP is 50, who will meet President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Friday. Gotabaya had written a letter two days ago, inviting the member parties of the ruling coalition to discuss a possible interim government. They said they were ready to hold the meeting on one condition that the meeting should be held without the Prime Minister (Mahinda Rajapaksa) and the cabinet members.
Asked whether the prime minister would resign to pave the way for the formation of an interim government, Dayasiri Jayasekhar said it was unlikely to happen. The Rajapaksa family is under increasing pressure to resign and thousands of protesters have been camping outside the President's Secretariat permanently for nearly three weeks. Protesting youths have also surrounded the official residence of Mahinda Rajapaksa and are demanding his resignation.
President fixed the meeting for April 29
According to media reports, after the resignation of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, a meeting has been fixed for April 29 to discuss the new arrangement. The move comes in the backdrop of pressure within the ruling coalition to resign the prime minister to make way for an interim government. Let us tell you that both the President and the Prime Minister were under increasing pressure through massive public protests demanding their resignation to deal with the country's worst economic crisis.
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