Colombia: Mass resignations were given in by the ministers of the Sri Lankan cabinet after a late-night meeting on Sunday as the ruling political clan sought to resolve the grimacing economic conditions. According to sources, a new cabinet would be sworn in today. All 26 ministers from the President’s cabinet and the PM stepped down.
Internet service providers were ordered to block access to social media platforms which failed to deter the protest leading the curbs to be lifted in the second half of Sunday. The escalating protests have led to fissures within the government, with the president’s nephew Namal Rajapaksa condemning the partial internet blackout.
After mass protests gripped the streets, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa imposed a state of emergency on Friday. A nationwide curfew was imposed until today morning. According to local reports, 664 people were arrested for violation of curfews.
#GoHomeRajapaksas” and “#GotaGoHome” have been trending for days on Twitter and Facebook in the island nation, which is battling severe shortages of essentials, sharp price rises and crippling power cuts in its most painful downturn since independence from Britain in 1948. The youngest Rajapaksa brother, finance minister Basil, and their eldest, Chamal, who held the agricultural portfolio, and the family’s scion Namal, the sports minister, all resigned.
The island country’s economy plummeted as it hit a ballooning debt of $51 billion, with the pandemic torpedoing vital revenue from tourism and remittances. Shortage of fuel, food and other essentials- with long hour power cuts, raged over the countries residents.