Sri Lanka: Opposition Rejects President’s Unity Govt Offer, Protests Continue

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

(Photo: Ministry of Defence, Sri Lanka/Altered by The Quint)

Sri Lanka's opposition parties on Monday, 4 April, dismissed President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's invitation to join a unity government as "nonsensical" and as a "sham", and rather demanded his resignation over the country's worsening shortages of food, fuel and medicines.

This came hours after Rajapaksa appointed four ministers in his Cabinet to ensure parliamentary legitimacy and stability until a new Cabinet is formed.

On Sunday, all 26 Cabinet ministers in Rajapaksa's government had resigned hours after the Sri Lankan prime minister's office refuted rumours of Rajapaksa's plans to step down from his post.

Rajapaksa had said that he will not resign but is ready to hand over the government to whichever party holds 113 seats in Parliament, voting for which will take place when Parliament convenes on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the President's Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) is trying to hold on to its 113 seats so that it can continue in the government even with a simple majority, while Mahinda Rajapaksa remains the Prime Minister.

4 New Ministers

The president's brother and former Sri Lankan Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa was replaced with Ali Sabry, a former Minister of Justice, ANI reported.

Dinesh Gunawardena, Leader of the House, was appointed Education Minister, whereas Chief Government Whip Johnston Fernando was named Highways Minister. GL Peiris was once again appointed as Foreign Affairs Minister.

All four ministers were sworn-in at the Presidential Secretariat on Monday.

Meanwhile, India recently announced to extend a $1 billion line of credit to Sri Lanka as part of its financial assistance to the country to deal with the economic crisis following a previous USD 500 billion line of credit in February to help it purchase petroleum products.

Invitation to Opposition to Form Unity Govt

Earlier, the Sri Lankan president had invited all political parties in the country to join a 'unity government' to find a solution as the nation sees increasing protests.

A press release from the president's media division said that the current crisis is due to several economic and global factors and that as a leading democracy in Asia, Sri Lanka should address the issue within the framework of democracy itself.

Accordingly, the Sri Lankan President has invited all political parties representatives in Parliament to take up ministerial posts and work together.

Considering this a national need, the time has come to work together for the sake of all the citizens and future generations, the press release said.

The PM's son, Namal Rajapaksa, had also resigned from the post of the Cabinet minister of youth and sports on Sunday along with other ministers.

Following suit on Monday, Ajith Nivard Cabraal, Governor of Sri Lanka's Central Bank (CBSL), also submitted his resignation to the president.

Later, former CBSL official P Nandalal Weerasinghe accepted an offer from Rajapaksa to become the central bank's next governor.

On Monday, trading halted on the Sri Lanka stock exchange after a plunge of 5.9 percent, reported news agency AFP.

Though the 36-hour long curfew, which was imposed on Saturday has been lifted, the country is still under a state of emergency.

(With inputs from AFP and ANI.)