প্রকাশ: 05/04/2022
Sri Lankan President
Gotabaya Rajapaksa dropped his brother as finance minister and sought a new
central bank governor on Monday, as crowds angry over the country's deepening
economic crisis surrounded the homes of several lawmakers.
The debt-laden country, run by Rajapaksa and members of his
family since 2019, is struggling to pay for imports of fuel and other goods due
to a scarcity of foreign exchange, leading to hours-long power cuts and a
shortage of essentials.
Police used tear gas to disperse hundreds of protesters who
gathered outside Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa's private residence in
Tangalle, in southern Sri Lanka. Mahinda, the president's elder brother, was
away at the time in Colombo, the country's commercial capital, where peaceful
protests continued into the night.
"Protesters broke through two barricades that had been
placed near the residence and police had to use tear gas to move the protesters
away," police spokesperson Nihal Thalduwa said.
Crowds also gathered outside the homes of six lawmakers and
the party office of a former state minister spread across the country, he said.
"Police continue to provide security to the houses of
parliamentarians," Thalduwa said.
After many protesters demanded the total ouster of the
Rajapaksas, the president's media office said in a statement that four new
ministers had been appointed "to ensure parliament and other tasks can be
conducted in a lawful manner until a full Cabinet can be sworn in."
The president's nephew resigned as sports minister in the
government that was disbanded while the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL)
governor offered to quit. The CBSL delayed its monetary policy announcement
scheduled for Tuesday.
Former CBSL official P Nandalal Weerasinghe said on
Monday that he had accepted an offer from Rajapaksa to become the central
bank's next governor.
"The president called me and made the offer, and I have
accepted," Weerasinghe told Reuters.
The president's media office said Justice Minister Ali Sabry
was named 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) on a loan programme.
Ministers of foreign affairs, education and highways will
keep their positions.
"The president invites all political parties
representing in the parliament to come together to accept ministerial
portfolios in order to find solutions to this national crisis," the media
office said.
Udaya Gammanpila, chief of one of the 11 political parties
comprising the ruling coalition, called the new Cabinet "old wine in a new
bottle".
"Our demand is for an all-party interim government to
restore essential services and to hold a parliamentary election,"
Gammanpila, of the Pivithuru Hela Urumaya party, wrote on Twitter. "People
should decide their next leaders, not anybody 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 a government like this must go home immediately," he said
in a video statement.
'THIS GOVERNMENT IS OVER'
The developments come after the president declared a state
of emergency on Friday, following street protests in the island nation of 22
million.
The power regulator said daily power cuts would be reduced
to 6-1/2 hours for the rest of the week from about seven now, after the Energy
Ministry pledged to release 26,000 tonnes of diesel and furnace oil to multiple
power plants.
Charmara Nakandala, a protester, dismissed the Cabinet
changes as meaningless.
"This cabinet change is to try and fool the
people," Nakandala, a marketing executive, said at a protest in Colombo.
"This government is over. Rajapaksas no longer can save this by playing musical
chairs."
Sri Lanka, off India's southern tip, is also grappling with
soaring inflation after the government steeply devalued its currency last month
ahead of the IMF talks.
Sri Lanka's expenditure has exceeded its income under
successive governments while its production of tradable goods and services has
been inadequate. The twin deficits were badly exposed by the Covid-19 pandemic
that crippled tourism, its economic mainstay.
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