Sri Lanka: President Rajapaksa meets ex-PM Srisena, discusses economic, political crisis

Colombo [Sri Lanka], April 10 : President Gottabaya Rajapaksa and former Prime Minister Maithripala Srisena-led Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) held a crucial meeting on Sunday evening to discuss the political and economic crisis affecting the country.
"The main objective of the meeting is to coerce President Rajapaksa to form an interim administration under an all-party cabinet sans Rajapaksas with the least number of portfolios," said Maithripala addressing the media at the party office in the morning.
Earlier, amid the ongoing economic crisis in the country, eleven coalition allies of the Sri Lankan government and the independent group of former ruling party parliamentarians led by Anura Priyadarshana Yapa on Friday have written to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa requesting the removal of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and the appointment of a new cabinet under a new PM.
The letter carries the signatures of the President of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), former President Maithripala Sirisena, Member of Parliament (MP) Vasudeva Nanayakkara, MP Anura Priyadarshana Yapa and President's Counsel Wijayadasa Rajapaksha on behalf of the 42 MPs who left the government and sat in Parliament as an independent group, Colombo Page reported citing local media.
The MPs left the government on Tuesday reducing the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) to a minority government.
The MPs have proposed the appointment of an all-party national executive council to resolve the crisis, and the appointment of a new prime minister and an all-party cabinet by parliamentary agreement, the report said.
The letter also called on the President to work with the thus appointed Prime Minister and the Cabinet and hold elections within a limited time.
The letter suggested that a committee of experts be appointed to determine the number of ministries and appoint an all-party cabinet accordingly, additionally proposing a short-term and medium-term solution to the crisis.
Sri Lanka is battling a severe economic crisis with food and fuel scarcity affecting a large number of the people in the island nation resulting in massive protests over the government's handling of the situation.
The economy has been in a free-fall since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to the crush of tourism.
Sri Lanka is also facing a foreign exchange shortage, which has, incidentally, affected its capacity to import food and fuel, leading to the power cuts in the country. The shortage of essential goods forced Sri Lanka to seek assistance from friendly countries.