- The President calls on all parties to assume ministerial roles
- The president’s brother is replaced as finance minister
- Central bank governor offers to resign ahead of policy meeting
- Spontaneous protests continue across the country
- Coalition partner rejects new cabinet
COLOMBO, April 4 – Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa sacked his brother as finance minister and sought a new central bank governor on Monday as crowds angry at the country’s deepening economic crisis surrounded the homes of several lawmakers.
The indebted country, which has been run by Rajapaksa and members of his family since 2019, has struggled to pay for imports of fuel and other commodities due to a shortage of foreign exchange, leading to hour-long power outages and a shortage of basic necessities. Continue reading
Police used tear gas to disperse hundreds of protesters who had gathered outside Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa’s private residence in Tangalle, southern Sri Lanka. Mahinda, the president’s older brother, was out in Colombo, the country’s commercial capital, at the time, where peaceful protests continued into the night.
“Protesters broke through two barricades set up near the residence and police had to use tear gas to drive the protesters away,” said police spokesman Nihal Thalduwa.
Crowds also gathered outside the homes of six lawmakers and the party office of a former state minister across the country, he said.
“The police continue to ensure security in the houses of parliamentarians,” said Thalduwa.
After many protesters called for the complete overthrow of the Rajapaksas, the President’s media office said in a statement that four new ministers had been appointed “to ensure that parliament and other duties can be lawfully carried out until a full cabinet can be sworn in “.
The President’s nephew resigned as sports minister in the government, which was dissolved while the governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) tendered his resignation. The CBSL delayed its monetary policy announcement scheduled for Tuesday.
Former CBSL official P Nandalal Weerasinghe said Monday he had accepted an offer from Rajapaksa to become the next central bank governor.
“The president called me and made the offer and I accepted,” Weerasinghe told Reuters.
The President’s Media Office said Attorney General Ali Sabry has been appointed Finance Minister, replacing Basil Rajapaksa, the President’s younger brother, who was due to visit Washington this month for talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over a loan program.
Ministers for Foreign Affairs, Education and Highways will retain their positions.
“The President invites all political parties represented in Parliament to come together to adopt ministerial portfolios to find solutions to this national crisis,” the media office said.
Udaya Gammanpila, leader of one of the eleven political parties in the governing coalition, called the new cabinet “old wine in a new bottle”.
“Our demand is an interim government of all parties to restore basic services and hold parliamentary elections,” Gammanpila of the Pivithuru Hela Urumaya party wrote on Twitter. “People should choose their next leaders, not anyone else.”
Sajith Premadasa, leader of Sri Lanka’s main opposition, rejected Rajapaksa’s offer to form a unity government. “This is a crooked and corrupt government that has brought the people to their knees. The demand of the people is that a government like this must go home immediately,” he said in a video statement.
Protests erupted in several regions of Sri Lanka, including the largest city of Colombo, over the country’s worst economic crisis in several decades.
“THIS GOVERNMENT IS OVER”
The developments come after the president on Friday declared a state of emergency following street protests in the island nation of 22 million.
The electricity regulator said daily blackouts would be reduced from about seven hours now to six and a half hours for the rest of the week after the Department of Energy pledged to turn over 26,000 tonnes of diesel and heating oil to several power stations.
Charmara Nakandala, a protester, dismissed the cabinet changes as meaningless.
“This cabinet change is to try to deceive people,” Nakandala, a marketing executive, said at a protest in Colombo. “This government is over. Rajapaksas can no longer save this by playing musical chairs.”
Sri Lanka, off the southern tip of India, is also grappling with rising inflation after the government heavily devalued its currency last month ahead of IMF talks.
Sri Lanka’s expenditure has exceeded its revenue under successive governments while its production of tradable goods and services has been insufficient. The twin deficits have been severely exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has crippled tourism, its economic mainstay.
Reporting by Uditha Jayasinghe and Devjyot Ghoshal; Additional reporting by Waruna Karunatilake in Colombo and Karin Strohecker in London; Writing from Krishna N. Das; Edited by Raju Gopalakrishnan, David Holmes and Leslie Adler