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Sri Lanka PM May Step Down

Sri Lanka PM May Step Down

Sri Lanka PM may step down after he was heckled on a rare outing as the country further plunges into chaos. The crushing economic crisis in Sri Lanka appears to have claimed its first political victim, with Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa facing renewed calls to quit. Rajapaksa has so far fended off criticism for his handling of the economy.

While Rajapaksa is still hesitant to stand aside, CNN-News18 has learned that following his visit to Anuradhapura, he realized the magnitude of animosity directed at him. When the prime minister visited Anuradhapura on Sunday morning, demonstrators booed him and called for him to quit.

In the midst of the uncertainty, Rajapaksa has invited supporters to come to his official residence, Temple Trees, on Monday to urge him not to resign. Sources say he will take advantage of the chance to announce his resignation.

They went on to say that imposing the Emergency was causing local and international backlash, prompting the political maneuver.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Mahinda Rajapaksa’s younger brother, announced a state of emergency on Friday at midnight, the second in just over a month.

After stores shuttered and public transportation was suspended Friday, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa invoked the severe rules to “maintain public order,” according to a spokeswoman for the South Asian island nation’s 22 million residents.

According to reports, the 72-year-old president has been pressing Mahinda Rajapaksa to retire for a few weeks in order to form an all-party interim government.

The main opposition SJB party has stated that it will not participate in any national administration until and until the president accepts responsibility for mismanagement and corruption.

Sri Lanka’s economic crisis began when the coronavirus outbreak decimated tourism and remittance revenues.

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