Sri Lanka: President Revamp Cabinet after Opposition Refused Invitation to Join Unity Cabinet

Manas Dasgupta

NEW DELHI, April 4: Sri Lanka named a new finance minister as President Gotabaya Rajapaksa began reworking his cabinet after all the 26 ministers submitted their resignations and the president invited the opposition parties to join hands to tide over the nation’s worst economic and political crisis in decades.

Ali Sabry will take over from Basil Rajapaksa as the head of finance, while G.L. Pieris will continue as the foreign minister, Sudewa Hettiarachchi, director general of the Presidential Media Division, said on Monday. Sabry is among the key decision makers as the president prepares for a bailout from the International Monetary Fund.

Samagi Jana Balavegaya, the principal Opposition party, however, termed this spate of resignations a “sham” and declined the invitation from the President to form an interim government.

The reshuffle comes amid Sri Lanka’s struggle with a severe dollar shortage, prompting capital controls and import curbs. With the government eventually running out of funds to pay for purchase of essentials such as food and fuel, the island nation is now staring at a default of its debt, even as inflation has accelerated at the fastest pace in Asia and the rupee has collapsed.

Late on Sunday night, all 26 cabinet ministers except the prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, the elder brother of the president, submitted their resignations to enable the president to revamp his cabinet after thousands of people defied a countrywide state of emergency and curfew and took to the streets in protest against the government. The people defied the curfew to protest against long queues for fuel and gas and long hours without electricity.

The trouble continued even on Monday and the Sri Lankan police fired tear gas and water cannons at some 2,000 irate protesters who defied curfew orders and tried to storm Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa’s residence in Tangalle demanding his resignation.

Around 2,000 people descended near the Prime Minister’s residence known as Carlton House in Tangalle, situated 200 km south of Colombo, and pulled down barricades chanting anti-Rajapaksa slogans. Interestingly, Tangalle, which has a Sinhalese-majority population, is considered to be the bastion of the Rajapaksas.

According to eyewitness accounts, angry protesters managed to dodge the police and were seen running towards Rajapaksa’s gates clamouring for his resignation. The people blame the government’s poor handling of the economic crisis forcing citizens currently endure long hours of power outages and scarcity of essentials has angered the public that has resulted in planned and sustained country-wide protests since Sunday.

On Monday, Sri Lankan President fired his brother and Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa and invited the opposition parties to join the Unity Cabinet to tackle the raging public anger against the hardships caused due to the country’s worst economic crisis. Incidentally, Basil Rajapaksa had negotiated the Indian economic relief package to help Sri Lanka tackle the current foreign exchange crisis. He has been replaced by Ali Sabry, who was until Sunday night the Minister of Justice.

Basil Rajapaksa was scheduled to leave for the U.S. to meet with the International Monetary Fund for a possible bailout package to get over the unprecedented economic crisis. He was at the centre of anger within the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna coalition. Last month, at least two Ministers were sacked from the Cabinet as they publicly criticised Basil Rajapaksa.

After the resignation of the Cabinet Ministers, at least three other new Ministers were sworn in. G.L. Pieris has been sworn in as the Foreign Minister, while Dinesh Gunawardena is the new Education Minister. Johnston Fernando was appointed the new Minister of Highways.

Meanwhile, Governor of the Central Bank Ajith Nivard Cabraal also announced his resignation on Monday. “In the context of all Cabinet Ministers resigning, I have today submitted my resignation as Governor,” he said in a tweet. Cabraal, 67, was blamed for his rigid stance on Sri Lanka seeking an economic bailout through an IMF structural adjustment facility.

Sri Lankan MP Sagara Kariyawasam on Monday said the Gotabaya Rajapaksa-led government would survive the latest crisis and the President would not put in his papers as the ruling camp had a majority in Parliament.

Kariyawasam, who spoke to reporters after an all-party meeting, said there was an issue of foreign currency and the government would need to find a sustainable solution.

The MP’s statement came as Opposition parties rejected the President’s invitation to join the proposed unity government as a “sham” after he fired his brother and finance minister Basil as protests were held nationwide over the ruling Rajapaksa family’s poor handling of the country’s worst economic crisis.

Kariyawasam also thanked India for standing by the island nation and continuing to do so even during the current crisis. “India is our neighbour and it has always helped us. This time also India is helping us and we are depending on it,” the ruling camp MP said. “The government will survive. We have a majority in Parliament. President Rajapaksa will not resign… We’ve an issue of foreign currency and we need to find a sustainable solution,” he said.

Sabry and Pieris are part of a team that will oversee debt restructure, key to obtaining support from the IMF. Central bank governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal, who has opposed aid from the multilateral lender, offered to quit separately.

The political shakeup follows the government’s attempt to quell growing social unrest by imposing emergency rule, barring gatherings and ordering Internet service providers to restrict social media access. Inflation is running at almost 19% and citizens have had to endure daily power cuts of as long as 13 hours as diesel runs out due to a foreign exchange crisis.

Citizens across the island on Sunday defied a curfew and staged protests on streets calling for the ouster of the president due to soaring living costs. Social media groups are now calling for a “Black Monday,” asking people to wear the colour to show unity and anger over the current situation.