Sri Lanka has been witnessing public anger against the acute shortages of food, fuel and medicines.
The problems that Sri Lanka has been facing are showing no signs of respite. With economic horizon as well as the social and political arenas witnessing unprecedented boil, the island nation is battling the worst crisis in recent history. The latest on that front is that 26 cabinet ministers in the Lankan government have resigned.
That has left only President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his elder brother, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, remaining in their posts. The crisis has been so huge that the Sri Lankan government ministers have quit en masse, leaving their seats vacant. The decision came about during late-night meeting on Sunday.
The reason attribute to the resignations is the protests against the government as economic woes zoomed beyond repair. The island nation has been witnessing public anger against the acute shortages of food, fuel and medicines. The South Asian nation is home to 22 million people.
Anti-govt protests rage in Sri Lanka
Though the government had sought to quell the growing number escalating protest against the administration by invoking curfews, the people’s ire has not showed any signs of dying down. With anti-government protests turning out to be a major hassle, the ministerial cabinet had no other way but to step down. This has in turn left President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minster Mahinda Rajapaksa to get hold of the reigns to steer the country forward
A report quoted Education Minister Dinesh Gunawardena as telling the media that “all the ministers submitted their letters of resignation so that the president can constitute a new cabinet.” The decision to quit en masse was taken after discussing the worsening economic crisis, he added.
With the resignations, three member of the powerful Rajapaksa family had also lost their ministerial positions. Finance Minister Basil, Agriculture Minister Chamal and Sport Minister Namal were the three Rajapaksa kin who had quit. Among them Namal is said to be the Rajapaksa scion. What future lies ahead for him is unknown.
Thousands dead as protesters defy curfew
Meanwhile, Namal Rajapaksa hopped on to Twitter to let the nation know of the crisis and his subsequent resignation. He tweeted that he has informed the secretary to the President of his resignation from all portfolios with immediate effect, in hope that it may assist the decisions of the President and Prime Minister to establish stability for the people and the government of Sri Lanka.
It may be recalled that the protests in Sri Lanka have left thousands dead already. The deaths came about after protesters tried to defy a weekend curfew and demanded the ouster of the Rajapaksa family. The turmoil in the island nation could continue for a while, as financial woes don’t seem like having found a solution as yet.
