World News | ‘Lankan PM Mahinda Rajapaksa Under Pressure to Resign'

Colombo, May 6 (PTI) Sri Lanka's beleaguered Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, who has made it clear that he will not quit from his post, came under unexpected pressure to resign at the special Cabinet meeting held on Friday.

“There were opinions during the Cabinet, some even suggested the prime minister must resign. The President (Gotabaya Rajapaksa) was keen to see an end to the political crisis even with the resignation of the prime minister,” a ministerial source said.

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The backers of the 76-year-old prime minister had insisted him to stay on as the public demand was more for the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, his younger brother.

The 72-year-old president for a few weeks now has been wanting the prime minister to resign in order to set up an all-party interim government.

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Although Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa said at the Cabinet meeting that he would readily resign if the successor could resolve the current economic crisis, he did not categorically say he would resign, according to the source.

Mahinda Rajapaksa has also said that he would be the head of an interim government if there is one.

The special Cabinet meeting came as student activists kept the parliament under siege since Thursday night.

There was also a one day crippling strike of all services.

The students blocked the main entrance to the complex demanding the resignation of the government for its inability to handle the ongoing economic crisis marked by shortages of essentials.

In another turn of events, new deputy speaker of parliament Ranjith Siyambalapitiya, who was elected on Thursday, offered his resignation again, saying he had taken a conscientious decision.

Siyambalapitiya was elected with the government's backing. He had resigned following the decision by his political party Sri Lanka Freedom Party to leave the government.

Sri Lanka is currently in the throes of unprecedented economic turmoil since its independence from Britain in 1948. The crisis is caused in part by a lack of foreign currency, which has meant that the country cannot afford to pay for imports of staple foods and fuel, leading to acute shortages and very high prices.

Thousands of demonstrators have hit the streets across Sri Lanka since April 9, as the government ran out of money for vital imports; prices of essential commodities have skyrocketed and there are acute shortages in fuel, medicines and electricity supply.

Despite mounting pressure, President Rajapaksa and his elder brother and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa have refused to quit.

On Thursday, they won a key election in Parliament when their candidate convincingly won the race for the post of Deputy Speaker.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)