Sri Lanka Economic Crisis Updates: Bandula Gunawardana First Cabinet Minister to Resign After PM Ranil Wickremesinghe Steps Down; All Party Interim Government in Next Few Days
The island of 22 million people is struggling under a severe foreign exchange shortage that has limited essential imports of fuel, food and medicine, plunging it into the worst financial turmoil in seven decades.
Sri Lanka Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Saturday announced his resignation to make way for an all-party government to take over. “To ensure the continuation of the Government including the safety of all citizens I accept the best recommendation of the Party Leaders today, to make way for an All-Party Government. To facilitate this I will resign as Prime Minister,” he wrote on Twitter.
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Earlier in the day, thousands of protesters in Sri Lanka’s commercial capital Colombo broke through police barricades and stormed President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s official residence in one of the largest anti-government marches in the crisis-hit country this year, according to news agency Reuters. This came after reports of the President fleeing his home surfaced, according to news agency AFP. Some protesters, holding Sri Lankan flags and helmets, broke into the president’s residence, video footages showed. Sri Lanka Economic Crisis: PM Ranil Wickremesinghe, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa Step Down After Leaders Demand Resignation; Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena To Take Over
Sri Lankan MP Harsha de Silva has said that the majority of party leaders had agreed on President and Prime Minister's resignation and the Speaker to act as President for a maximum of 30 days. He further said that the leaders also agreed on the election of MP as President for the remaining term will be elected by the parliament. "All party interim government to be appointed in the next few days," he added. This comes after Sri Lanka Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe announced that he will resign from his post in order to ensure the continuation of the government and the safety of all the citizens. Sri Lanka Economic Crisis: Protestors Take Over President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s Office in Colombo (Watch Video)
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The island of 22 million people is struggling under a severe foreign exchange shortage that has limited essential imports of fuel, food and medicine, plunging it into the worst financial turmoil in seven decades. Thousands of people swarmed into Colombo’s government district, shouting slogans against the president and dismantling several police barricades to reach Rajapaksa’s house
Prime Minister expresses grave regret over the assault on journalists who are covering the ongoing protests, by security personnel. Freedom of media is paramount to Democracy in Sri Lanka," PMO said in a statement.
It added, "The Prime Minister requests both the security forces and the protesters to act with restraint to prevent any violence and ensure the safety of the public."
Bandula Gunawardana has resigned amid protests in Sri Lanka. The resignations in the cabinet have begun.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 09, 2022 09:13 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).