Sri Lanka's Prez Gotabaya Rajapaksa to hold crucial meeting with 41MPs
Apr 10, 2022
Colombo [Sri Lanka], April 10 : In a bid to find a solution to the current economic, political and social crisis in the country, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa will be holding a crucial meeting with 41 MPs who recently quit the ruling dispensation.
The meeting between the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and President Rajapaksa is scheduled to be held at 7.00 pm this evening, reported Daily Mirror.
The information of the decisive and crucial meeting was given by the former President and SLFP leader Maithripala Siriserna.
Addressing the media at the party office today morning, he said the main objective of the meeting was to coerce President Rajapaksa to form an interim administration under an all-party Cabinet sans Rajapaksas with the least number of portfolios, reported Daily Mirror.
"Before the interim administration is set up, the 19th Amendment to the Constitution must be re-introduced with added powers to curtail the executive powers of the executive presidency," he added.
The entire country is demanding the removal of the Rajapaksa clan and President Rajapaksa from power in Sri Lanka.
It seems that the protests and agitations against the President and the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) government will not subside as long as President Gotabaya Rajapaksa remains in power, reported Daily Mirror.
"But it is a long process and takes time. The people need immediate solutions to their current grievances such as the power outage, the skyrocketing price of essential commodities, food shortage, the ever-escalating Cost of Living and many more. If we are to find immediate solutions to these pressing issues, first and foremost action must be taken to form a stable government," Sirisena said.
The SLFP is of the view that an all-party interim government with no involvement of the Rajapaksa clan will win public confidence as there will be no unnecessary directives or orders from the executive with the re-introduction of the Constitutional provisions of the 19th Amendment.
"To do this, the SLFP expects the support and blessings of all political parties represented in Parliament," Sirisena stressed.
Sri Lanka is battling a severe economic crisis with food and fuel scarcity affecting a large number of the people in the island nation. The economy has been in a free-fall since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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.
