'Every Second You Protest, We Lose Dollars': Sri Lankan PM Mahinda Rajapaksa

As Sri Lanka witnesses its worst economic turmoil since the 1940s, Sri Lankan PM Mahinda Rajapaksa addressed the citizens of the crisis-hit island nation.

(Photo: Twitter/@PresRajapaksa)

As Sri Lanka witnesses its worst economic turmoil since the 1940s, Sri Lankan PM Mahinda Rajapaksa on Monday, 11 April, addressed the citizens of the crisis-hit island nation and stressed "every second you protest in the road, we are losing dollars."

While the island nation is struggling with the crisis impacting the supply of basic goods such as food, medicine, and fuel, people are protesting in different cities, including capital Colombo, against the government's policies.

Rajapaksa added that the none of the parties in the Parliament have come forward to resolve the issue at hand.

"Though all parties in Parliament were urged to come forward to resolve the current crisis in the country, no one has come forward. So, as the party in power, the government will take all possible steps to resolve the crisis," Rajapaksa declared.

Saying that the government, which has "ended the war" to save people from upheaval and "constructed highways not to keep people in queue" will ensure that the crisis is resolved.

"We built ports not to idle oil ships in our ports until we find dollars to pay for them. We will make all efforts to overcome this crisis," the PM said.

Last week, Sri Lanka MP Patali Champika Ranawaka had that the Rajapaksa family had left the country, fuelling the anger of the people who are facing hours-long outages.

"That's true. Rajapaksa's family members, spouses, children, and others have left the country and they are enjoying their private jets, and yachts at the expense of our children's future. The new generation is very angry with these people," Ranawaka had said.

(With inputs from ANI.)