Colombo, April 21: A civil society group comprising professionals including lawyers and doctors has urged Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa to resign to make way for a caretaker and interim national government. Calling
The former President of Sri Lanka, Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa meeting the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, in New Delhi on September 12, 2018.
themselves “Direction Sri Lanka”, the grouping has called for the establishment of a cabinet of 18 members along with an equal number of Deputy Ministers representing all political parties, The Island newspaper reported on Thursday. The group has rejected the swearing in of a new Cabinet by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in response to ongoing public protests and campaign undertaken by the parliamentary opposition. The signatories included many prominent lawyers, academics and medical doctors. After two days of consultations on April 18 and 19, the group said that the dire economic and social distress presently faced by all Sri Lankans and the proximate causes that led to the persistent demands of the protesters throughout the country could lead to state of anarchy. It wanted a new President to be elected, to be followed by the resignation of the Prime Minister. The two Rajapaksas are brothers. Upon the resignation of the Prime Minister, the entire Cabinet will stand dissolved. A caretaker or interim National Government should be immediately formed comprising a new Prime Minister and a Cabinet and Deputy Ministers representing all political parties. This government shall function for a maximum period of one year. It emphasized that the new Ministers should have “appropriate educational qualifications and … should be people of the highest integrity”. The group also sought a group of experts with core competencies in economic management to advise the government on the steps to be taken to revive the economy of the country. (UNI)
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