Protests rage, pressure mounts on Lankan President, PM to resign
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, April 10
As anti-government protests continued throughout Sri Lanka demanding President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s resignation, a group of 42 MPs has sought the resignation of his elder brother and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. In a meeting with President Rajapaksa today, they handed over a proposal to pull Sri Lanka out of the economic crisis.
The letter was signed by former President Maithripala Sirisena, MPs Vasudeva Nanayakkara and Anura Priyadarshana Yapa and President’s Counsel Wijayadasa Rajapaksha on behalf of the 42 MPs who have left the government and sit in Parliament as an independent group. President Rajapaksa has defended his government’s actions, saying the foreign exchange crisis was not of his making and the economic downturn was largely pandemic-driven with the island nation’s tourism revenue and inward remittances falling sharply.
The government has brought in an economist from abroad as the head of Central Bank and also appointed a new Finance Minister after sacking another of Gotabaya’s brother Basil Rajapaksa.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka’s doctors have warned that the country is nearly running out of life-saving medicines which could extract a heavier death toll than the Covid pandemic.
The Sri Lanka Medical Association (SLMA) said all hospitals no longer had access to imported medical tools and vital drugs. Several facilities have already been suspending routine surgeries since last month, but the SLMA said even emergency procedures might not be possible soon.
