Gotabaya ‘takes steps’ towards interim government with reports Mahinda may be dumped

29 April 2022

Sri Lanka’s president Gotabaya Rajapaksa has agreed to ‘take steps’ towards creating an all-party interim government, according to a release from his office earlier today, with reports that his elder brother Mahinda Rajapaksa may be removed from his post as prime minister.

The press release says Rajapaksa met with “party leaders and representatives” to discuss the terms of a new all-party government, with former president Mathripala Sirisena present at the discussions. 

It added that the embattled president would agree to "the points contained in a common proposal presented by the party representatives if all political parties supported it".

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Sirisena said that Gotabaya was willing to replace Mahinda as prime minister in a proposed interim government. However, just hours later, Mahinda Rajapaksa’s spokesperson said that no such agreement had taken place between the siblings.

Earlier this week Mahinda Rajapaksa rejected growing calls to resign. “I will not step down. They can remove me, but I will not resign nor will I flee in fear,” he told a meeting.

The talks come after repeated calls to have both the President and Prime Minister resign. Previously, Gotabaya reshuffled and removed two of his brothers as well as his nephew from the cabinet. However, anti-government protests have continued.

Lawmaker: Sri Lanka president agrees to remove brother as PM

By KRISHAN FRANCISApril -29, 2022

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka’s president has agreed to replace his older brother as prime minister in a proposed interim government to solve a political impasse caused by the country’s worst economic crisis in decades, a prominent lawmaker said Friday.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa agreed that a national council will be appointed to name a new prime minister and Cabinet comprised of all parties in Parliament, lawmaker Maithripala Sirisena said after meeting with the president.

Sirisena, who was president before Rajapaksa, was a governing party lawmaker before defecting earlier this month along with nearly 40 other legislators.

However, Rohan Weliwita, a spokesperson for Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, said the president has not communicated any intent to remove the prime minister and a decision will be announced if such a step is taken.

Sri Lanka is near bankruptcy and has announced it is suspending payments on its foreign loans until it negotiates a rescue plan with International Monetary Fund. It has to repay $7 billion in foreign debt this year, and $25 billion by 2026. Its foreign reserves stand at less than $1 billion.

The foreign exchange shortage has severely limited imports, forcing people to wait in long lines to buy essentials such as food, fuel, cooking gas and medicine.

President Rajapaksa and his family have dominated nearly every aspect of life in Sri Lanka for most of the last 20 years. Protesters who have crowded the streets since March hold them responsible for the crisis and are demanding that they quit politics.

On Thursday, businesses were closed, teachers absent and public transportation interrupted as Sri Lankans joined a general strike to pressure the president to step down.

Rajapaksa earlier reshuffled his Cabinet and offered a unity government in an attempt to quell the protests, but opposition parties refused to join a government headed by the Rajapaksa brothers.

Both the president and prime minister have held on to their positions, while three other Rajapaksa family members resigned from the Cabinet earlier in April in what appeared an attempt to pacify angry protesters.

The weak, divided opposition has been unable to form a majority and take control of Parliament on its own.