MLA: Sri Lanka’s President agreed to remove Bhai from the post of PM
Colombo, Sri Lanka – Sri Lanka’s president has agreed to replace his older brother as prime minister in a proposed interim government to resolve the political deadlock caused by the country’s worst economic crisis in decades, a prominent parliamentarian said. said on Friday.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa agreed that a national council would be appointed to name a new prime minister and that parliament would comprise cabinets of all parties, MP Maithripala Sirisena said after a meeting with the president.
Sirisena, who was President before Rajapaksa, was a governing party legislator before defecting earlier this month along with around 40 other legislators.
Sri Lanka is close to bankruptcy and has announced that it is suspending payments on its foreign debts. It has to repay foreign debt of $ 7 billion this year and $ 25 billion by 2026. Its foreign reserves are less than $1 billion.
Foreign exchange crunch has severely restricted imports, forcing people to wait in long lines to buy essentials like food, fuel, cooking gas and medicine.
Rajapaksa and his family, including Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, have dominated almost every aspect of life in Sri Lanka over the past 20 years. Protesters who have crowded the streets since the march blamed him for the crisis.
On Thursday, businesses were closed, teachers were absent and public transport was disrupted as Sri Lankans called for a general strike to pressure the president to step down.
Rajapaksa first reshuffled his cabinet and offered a unity government in an attempt to quell the protests, but opposition parties refused to join the government led by the Rajapakse brothers. A weak, divided opposition has been unable to form a majority and control parliament on its own.
Post MLA: The President of Sri Lanka agrees to remove Bhai as the PM first appeared in the Associated Press.
