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Sri Lankan president sacks brother-finance minister Basil Rajapaksa amid economic crisis
The economic crisis in Sri Lanka intensified on Sunday after all 26 ministers of Rajapaksa's cabinet stepped down.
A day after all 26 ministers of prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa's cabinet stepped down, Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Monday sacked his brother and finance minister Basil Rajapaksa amid the country’s worst economic crisis. Basil, who had negotiated the Indian economic relief package to help Sri Lanka tackle the current foreign exchange crisis, has been replaced by Ali Sabry - who was the minister of justice till Sunday night.
Basil was scheduled to leave for the US to meet with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a possible bailout package to deal with the current economic crisis.
Last month, two ministers were sacked from the cabinet as they had publicly criticised Basil, reported news agency PTI.
Also read: Sri Lanka sees cabinet's mass resignations as unrest, crisis heighten: 10 points
The economic crisis intensified on Sunday after all 26 ministers of Rajapaksa's cabinet stepped down, allowing him to induct new faces. The move came after thousands of people defied a weekend curfew on Sunday to protest across the island demanding the ouster of the Rajapaksa family in the midst of growing public anger.
The Sri Lanka prime minister's son Namal Rajapaksa is among those who have resigned from their cabinet positions. Taking to Twitter, he wrote, “I have informed the sec. to the President of my resignation from all portfolios with immediate effect, in hope that it may assist HE & PMs decision to establish stability for the people & the govt of #LKA. I remain committed to my voters, my party & the people of #Hambanthota. (sic).”
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Meanwhile, Sri Lankan central bank governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal also submitted his resignation on Monday, reported Reuters. Amid the crisis, the Sri Lankan president invited all political parties in the country to join the 'unity government' to find a solution, according to news agency AFP.
In order to prevent the masses from gathering in Colombo to protest against the “government's failure”, the government had restricted access to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and other social media sites for almost 15 hours. The ban was lifted on Sunday after a massive backlash.
(With inputs from agencies)
