By PTI
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s main opposition parties on Sunday agreed to form an all-party interim government after the anticipated resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Wednesday, following unprecedented political turmoil that forced him and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to offer their resignations over the mishandling of the nation’s crippling economic crisis.
Opposition parties held talks to seek ways to steer the country forward in the current unprecedented economic crisis after Rajapaksa’s resignation.
“We agreed in principle to form a government of unity with all parties participation for an interim period,” Wimal Weerawansa of the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna party’s breakaway group said.
“This will be a government where all parties are represented,” he said.
Vasudeva Nanayakkara, another leader of the SLPP breakaway group said they need not wait for Rajapaksa’s resignation on July 13.
President Rajapaksa informed Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena on Saturday that he will resign on Wednesday after the country’s opposition parties demanded his resignation.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has also offered to resign.
The main Opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya party said they held extensive internal discussions.
“We aim for an interim government of all parties for a limited period and then go for a parliamentary election,” Ranjith Madduma Bandara, the SJB general secretary said.
The leaders of political parties represented in Parliament are to meet on Monday afternoon to discuss the convening of the House for the transition of power for a new government after Rajapaksa said he will resign.
Speaker Abeywardena conveyed to Rajapaksa on Saturday that Opposition party leaders want him to resign after anti-government protesters stormed his offices and the official residence.
Under the Constitution, the incumbent prime minister would automatically get appointed as the acting president for a short time until Parliament votes and appoint a successor to the president.
The protesters are also demanding the resignation of prime minister Wickremesinghe.
The resignation of both the president and prime minister would mean that Speaker Abeywardena would become the acting president.
Wickremesinghe has expressed willingness to resign when a new government is formed.
He stressed on Saturday that to deal with the International Monetary Fund on an assistance programme and to deal with shortages of essentials including food and fuel, it was important not to leave a vacuum.
In a statement Saturday night, Wickremesinghe said “this country is gripped with fuel and food shortages. There will be an important visit scheduled by the World Food Programme next week while crucial talks have to be continued with the IMF. So if the current government is to quit it must be replaced by the next.”
Meanwhile, the protesters who have occupied the key administration buildings since Saturday’s mass protests said they would not leave until Rajapaksa resigns.
Sri Lankans were seen roaming through the ransacked presidential palace on Sunday.
There were no reports of violence unlike on Saturday.
The cash-starved island nation witnessed a tumultuous day on Saturday when protesters broke into Rajapaksa’s official residence in Colombo.
The protesters were seen in the bedrooms and splashing around in the swimming pool of the President’s House.
Protesters did not spare Prime Minister Wickremesinghe despite his offer to resign and set on fire his private residence in an affluent neighbourhood in the capital.
The Speaker would become the acting President in the absence of both the President and the Prime Minister.
Later, an election among MPs must happen to elect a new President.
Meanwhile, five Sri Lankan Cabinet ministers have announced their resignation after the massive anti-government protest.
The Chief of Defence Staff General Shavendra Silva on Sunday called on all Sri Lankans to support the armed forces and the police to maintain peace in the country.
In May, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s elder brother and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa had to quit in the face of massive anti-government protests.
The Rajapaksa brothers, Mahinda and Gotabaya, were hailed by many in Sri Lanka as heroes for winning the civil war against the LTTE but they are now blamed for the country’s worst economic crisis.
The expected exit of President Rajapaksa on Wednesday and the resignation of Mahinda Rajapaksa as Prime Minister in May is a dramatic fall from grace for a powerful family that has dominated Sri Lankan politics for more than a decade.
Sri Lanka, a country of 22 million people, is under the grip of an unprecedented economic turmoil, the worst in seven decades, crippled by an acute shortage of foreign exchange that has left it struggling to pay for essential imports of fuel, and other essentials.
The country, with an acute foreign currency crisis that resulted in foreign debt default, had announced in April that it is suspending nearly USD 7 billion foreign debt repayment due for this year out of about USD 25 billion due through 2026.
Sri Lanka’s total foreign debt stands at USD 51 billion.
Meanwhile, former Sri Lankan President and chairman of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party Maithripala Sirisena on Sunday said that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe have no moral right to remain in power and warned that “a very dangerous situation” will arise if they don’t quit immediately.
Sirisena, who was in power from 2015 to 2019, in a statement made 10-point proposals to address the political crisis in the country as the anti-government protesters in Sri Lanka on Sunday continued to occupy the residences of President Rajapaksa and Prime Wickremesinghe, a day after they stormed into the premises protesting over the nation’s severe economic crisis.
“It is clear that a very dangerous situation is likely to arise in the country if they continue to act without understanding the opposition coming from the people,” the 70-year-old former President was quoted as saying by the News First portal.
In his proposals to all “responsible parties”, Sirisena said that the Parliament’s Speaker should be appointed Acting President until a President is appointed.
He underlined that in order to install the proposed all-party interim government, a National Executive Council or Leadership Council should be established consisting of the leaders of all the political parties represented in the Parliament.
The President and Prime Minister should be appointed with the agreement of the National Executive Council or Leadership Council and civil activists, academics and professionals, he said.
He suggested that a crisis management Cabinet should be appointed with a limited number of scopes to achieve essential and targeted objectives to bring the country back to its pre-crisis status.
A national advisory council composed of academics, professionals, civil activists and opinion leaders should be established under the respective ministries in the crisis management cabinet, he said.
To manage the crisis, the former President said that an integrated management programme aimed at economy, food security, essential services, social welfare and social security programme and socio-political reform/decentralisation approaches should be implemented as soon as possible.
He also said that the 19th Constitutional Amendment should be re-enacted with the necessary optimal amendment without delay.
As soon as the country is restored to its pre-crisis status, a parliamentary election should be held and the people should be given the democratic right to appoint a new government, he said.
In order to build the Sri Lankan nation, and to build the legal and constitutional base necessary to make Sri Lanka a developed country, to implement socio-political reforms, and to make the necessary structural transformations, Sirisena said the drafting of a new constitution should be the leading task of the new government.
Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena had asked President Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe to resign immediately to make way for an all-party government after the country witnessed its biggest protest yet amid an unprecedented economic crisis.
The Speaker would become the acting President in the absence of both the President and the Prime Minister.
Later, an election among MPs must happen to elect a new President.
Prime Minister Wickremesinghe has also offered to resign.
Prime Minister Wickremesinghe remains in position despite calls to quit.
In a statement Saturday night, Wickremesinghe, who has expressed his willingness to resign, said “this country is gripped with fuel and food shortages. There will be an important visit scheduled by the World Food Programme next week while crucial talks have to be continued with the IMF. So if the current government is to quit it must be replaced by the next.”
Sri Lanka, a country of 22 million people, is under the grip of an unprecedented economic turmoil, the worst in seven decades, crippled by an acute shortage of foreign exchange that has left it struggling to pay for essential imports of fuel, and other essentials.
The country, with an acute foreign currency crisis that resulted in foreign debt default, had announced in April that it is suspending nearly USD 7 billion foreign debt repayment due for this year out of about USD 25 billion due through 2026.
Sri Lanka’s total foreign debt stands at USD 51 billion.
Sri Lankan police on Sunday arrested three people for setting Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s private residence here on fire a day earlier, which caused extensive destruction of the property, media reports said.
A group of irate protesters on Saturday night entered Wickremesinghe’s private residence at Cambridge Place and set it on fire, inflicting extensive damage to the property and damaging a luxury sedan, amid massive anti-government protests.
A video released by the Daily Mirror newspaper on Twitter, which showed grim visuals of Wickremesinghe’s charred residence and a damaged sedan.
Paintings and other artworks were strewn across the house and the compound.
Among those arrested include a 19-year-old Mount Lavinia resident and two residents of Galle, aged 24 and 28 respectively, web portal Colombo Page reported, quoting the Police Spokesman SSP Nihal Talduwa.
More arrests are on the anvil, as the police have widened their scope of investigations, he said.
Talduwa said the suspects are currently in the custody of Colpetty Police, and will be produced in court later on Sunday, web portal Lanka First reported.
The residence was replete with a rare collection of books and old Buddha statues, most of which Wickremesinghe had inherited, the Colombo Page report said, quoting a spokesperson of the Prime Minister’s Office.
Wickremesinghe and his spouse Professor Maithrie Wickremesinghe stayed in this residence, the report said.
The incident came hours after Wickremesinghe offered to resign to make way for an all-party government.
Embattled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has also offered to resign on July 13.
Hours before his decision, a huge mob broke the police cordon and entered the Presidential House.
