The Sri Lankan government has resigned amid recent protests against the country’s deep economic crisis, which began with a demonstration in the capital Colombo on Thursday. Education Minister Dinesh Gunawardena said all 26 ministers who are part of the government have resigned but not Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, brother of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who was the target of the initial protests.
Hundreds of people demonstrated in front of the President’s residence in Colombo on Thursday evening, accused of not being able to deal with the country’s very serious economic crisis. In the days that followed, a state of emergency was declared and a 36hour curfew was imposed, including the blocking of social networks and messaging apps such as Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp, to prevent protests from being organized. On Sunday, however, thousands of people broke the curfew to protest the government and the severe shortages of food, fuel and medicines in both Colombo and other cities.
Now President Rajapaksa must appoint a new government, but according to various critics and political opponents, not much is likely to change: The Rajapaksa are part of one of the most important political dynasties in Sri Lanka, having seven brothers, all of whom have played important roles in politics or administration and have been accused of corruption and nepotism on various occasions.
Also read: Antigovernment protests in Sri Lanka