Colombo: New Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, has extended support to protestors. The protestors are calling for President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s resignation for mishandling the country’s worst economic crisis.
The Prime Minister has appointed a committee to look after the interests of protestors. Protestors have been camping at Colombo’s Galle Face Green since April 9.
Wickremesinghe, was appointed by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa as Prime Minister after asking his elder brother Mahinda Rajapaksa to quit.
Interacting with the BBC Sinhala Service, the Prime Minister said, “The ‘Gota Go Gama’ protest should be continued to bring a change in the political system in the country and let the country’s youth take the responsibility for leading.”
Wickremesinghe, the 73-year-old United National Party (UNP) leader, was appointed as Sri Lanka’s 26th prime minister on Thursday as the country has been without a government since Monday. On Monday, Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned after violence erupted following an attack on the anti-government protesters by his supporters.
The attack triggered widespread violence against Rajapaksa loyalists. In the incident nine people died and over 200 others were wounded.
Rajapaksa’s Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna Party (SLPP) has expressed support for Wickremesinghe, and almost all of the 225-member Parliament’s parties have stated that, while they would not join Wickremesinghe’s government, they would support him in his efforts to bring Sri Lanka out of its current economic crisis.
Two more ministers are to be appointed to the interim Cabinet. Four have been appointed on Saturday.
At least 78 parliamentarians, including the former prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, faced arson attacks on their private properties during the unrest on May 9.
At the government parliamentary group meeting held on Saturday, the attendance was low as parliamentarians still fear for their lives despite the imposition of a curfew.
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