Sri Lankan party rejects proposed unity government
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – Sri Lanka’s largest opposition party rejected an invitation from the president on Monday to form a unity government, as protests continued throughout the country over its worst economic crisis in memory and deepening mistrust in his leadership.
All 26 Cabinet ministers handed in their resignations Sunday night after thousands of people defied a countrywide state of emergency and curfew and joined street protests denouncing the government.
A statement from President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s office on Monday said he “invites all political parties represented in the Parliament to come together to accept ministerial portfolios in order to find solutions to this national crisis.”
The president and his older brother, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, were continuing to hold onto power, despite their entire politically powerful family being the focus of public ire.
Two other brothers, Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa and Irrigation Minister Chamal Rajapaksa, were among those who resigned, along with the prime minister’s son, Sports Minister Namal Rajapaksa. Those resignations were seen as an effort to pacify public anger at the Rajapaksas while retaining executive, defense and law-making powers in the family.
The largest opposition political party, the United People’s Force, or SJB, immediately rejected the president’s proposal of a unity government.
“The people of this country want Gotabaya and the entire Rajapaksa family to go and we can’t go against the people’s will and we can’t work alongside the corrupt,” top SJB official Ranjth Madduma Banadara told The Associated Press.
Police used a water cannon to disperse angry protesters who marched toward the Rajapaksa family home demanding that the ruling family quit.
The president, meanwhile, swore in four temporary Cabinet ministers to continue the main governmental functions of foreign affairs and finance, and to help lead the ruling party’s parliamentary group.
The top official in the Central Bank also resigned.