Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Amid escalating violence, agitating Sri Lankan masses had a rude shock on Monday when President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, 72, whose resignation they had been demanding for weeks, instead asked his elder brother Mahinda, the 76-year-old Prime Minister, to resign, although the latter had ruled it out recently.
His resignation may pave the way for the formation of a new government that has imposed a nationwide emergency twice within a month to control the volatile situation.
Meanwhile, a Member of Parliament (MP) from Sri Lanka’s ruling party shot dead an anti-government protester and then took his own life during a confrontation outside Colombo, police said.
The legislator, Amarakeerthi Athukorala, critically wounded two people blocking his car in the town of Nittambuwa. One victim died of his injuries. “The MP fled the scene and took refuge at a nearby building,” a police official said. “Thousands surrounded the building, and he then took his own life with his revolver.”
Hours after violence as his supporters attacked anti-government protesters outside the embattled President’s office and injured around 80 people, Mahinda sent in his resignation to Gotabaya amid a nationwide curfew and military deployment in Colombo. They admitted 16 injured people to the Colombo National Hospital.
The violence in the Sri Lankan capital began as pressure mounted on President Gotabaya to form an interim administration to overcome the worst economic crisis facing the country.
Sri Lanka is currently in the throes of unprecedented economic turmoil since its Independence from Britain in 1948. A lack of foreign currency reserves made it impossible to import staple foods and fuels, leading to acute shortages and runaway inflation, which also contributed to the crisis.
Thousands of demonstrators hit the streets across Sri Lanka since April 9 seeking the resignation of President Gotabaya and Prime Minister Mahinda, as the government ran out of money for vital imports. Prices of essential commodities have skyrocketed and there are acute shortages in fuel, medicines, and electricity supply.
Mahinda’s resignation came after President Gotabaya’s Friday ‘request’ to him to step down from the PM’s post as a solution to the ongoing political crisis in the country, Sri Lanka’s Daily Mirror reported.
The President is expected to invite the political parties in Parliament to form an all-party Cabinet.
Earlier, the Opposition party, Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), had confirmed that its leader Sajith Premadasa will not accept the PM’s post in an interim government.
On Monday morning, pro-government protesters held a demonstration opposite the Temple Trees, the PM’s official residence, urging him not to resign. After meeting the PM, they clashed with anti-government protesters near the Temple Trees.
The resignation came shortly after he put out a tweet urging the people to exercise restraint.
“While emotions are running high, I urge our public to exercise restraint & remember that violence only begets violence. The economic crisis we’re in needs an economic solution which this administration is committed to resolving,” Mahinda said in a tweet.
Responding to Mahinda’s tweet, former Sri Lankan cricketer Kumar Sangakkara said, “The only violence was perpetrated by your ‘supporters’ – goons and thugs who came to your office first before assaulting the peaceful protestors.”