Sri Lanka’s beleaguered Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, who has repeatedly defied calls to quit, has come under fresh pressure to resign at a special Cabinet meeting held before a state of emergency was imposed by his younger brother and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
The special Cabinet meeting was held on Friday as the country witnessed protests against the government over their inability to tackle the economic meltdown which has caused unprecedented hardships to the public.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa declared a state of emergency with effect from Friday midnight, the second time in just over a month.
“There were opinions during the Cabinet, some even suggested the prime minister must resign. The President (Gotabaya Rajapaksa) was keen to see an end to the political crisis even with the resignation of the prime minister,” a ministerial source said
The backers of the 76-year-old prime minister had insisted him to stay on as the public demand was more for the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, his younger brother.
The 72-year-old president for a few weeks now has been wanting the prime minister to resign in order to set up an all-party interim government.
Although Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa said at the Cabinet meeting that he would readily resign if the successor could resolve the current economic crisis, he did not categorically say he would resign, according to the source.
The Mirror newspaper reported that PM Rajapaksa listened to the President and said if a new government could solve the economic crisis and bring in an immediate solution, then he would give his blessings to the new government.
However, there is yet to be an official response on whether Mahinda Rajapaksa will tender his resignation, the report said.