Sri Lanka turmoil: Oppn slams Prez offer for unity govt, stir rages| Top points

Reports said Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa would continue to remain in office even as all members of the Cabinet tendered their resignations to the PM a day ago. Here are top developments of the crisis in the island nation.

Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Monday sacked his brother and finance minister as his government faced massive protests due to a deep economic crisis. Thousands of protestors took to streets again on Monday despite a 36-hour curfew imposed by the government. Reports said Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa would continue to remain in office even as all members of the Cabinet tendered their resignations to the PM a day ago.

Protestors hold banners and placards during a demonstration against the surge in prices and shortage of fuel and other essential commodities in Colombo on Monday. (AFP)

Here are top developments of the crisis in the island nation

- Sri Lankans staged a protest at Independence Square in capital Colombo against the government of Sri Lanka and continued to demand the resignation of the President.

- Police fired tear gas and water cannons at some 2,000 protesters who defied curfew orders.

- Sri Lanka's Opposition parties rejected President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's invitation to join the proposed unity government as a "sham". The president had asked opposition parties represented in parliament to "join the effort to seek solutions to the national crisis".

- A day after all 26 ministers of prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa's cabinet stepped down, Gotabaya Rajapaksa sacked his brother and finance minister Basil Rajapaksa. Read more

- The President named just four Cabinet members after all ministers other than the Prime Minister, put in their papers last night.

- Ali Sabry will take over from Basil Rajapaksa as the head of finance, while GL Pieris will continue as the foreign minister, Sudewa Hettiarachchi, said director general of the Presidential Media Division. Read more

- Sri Lankan central bank governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal said he submitted his resignation in the context of all cabinet ministers resigning. Read more

- Former Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) official P Nandalal Weerasinghe said he had accepted an offer from the country's president to become the bank's next governor.

- Sri Lanka’s leader of Opposition Sajith Premadasa sought India’s intervention and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to help the island nation to "the maximum possible extent" amid the worsening economic crisis. Read more

- Sri Lankan MP Sagara Kariyawasam said the government would survive the latest crisis and the President would not put in his papers as the ruling camp had a majority in Parliament. Read more

With inputs from news agencies