Sri Lanka Crisis | PM Mahinda Rajapaksa Refuses To Resign Despite Prez Gotabaya's Request: Report

Former Sri Lankan president Maithripala Sirisena reiterated that the Mahinda Rajapaksa-led government should resign for leading the country into an unprecedented crisis.

New Delhi: Amidst growing demands for the Sri Lankan government's immediate resignation, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa has reportedly refused to resign despite his brother, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa urging him to step down.

The Daily Mirror newspaper on Sunday quoted sources as it reported that Srilankan PM Mahinda Rajapaksa has refused to resign saying he had the majority support in Parliament while the President has been privately urging him to resign.

The Prime Minister has clearly informed the President that he would not vacate his seat at a time when he was trying to resolve the economic crisis, but if the President wanted to sack him, he could do so, the report stated.

There is widespread demand for President to appoint a new interim government with a new Prime Minister while there is another section that says that premier Mahinda Rajapaksa cannot be removed as he still holds the majority in Parliament.

Meanwhile, the Opposition has been going all out asking for President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to step down first.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa Calls To Set Aside Political Differences, Former President Calls For Fresh Polls

Sri Lanka's beleaguered President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Sunday urged all political parties to set aside their differences. He also appealed to the protesting citizens to join hands to steer a "pro-people struggle" to meet the nation's challenges.

On International Workers' Day, Gotabaya tweeted: "On this #InternationalWorkersDay, I once again invite all political party leaders in #lka to come to a consensus on behalf of the people. It's my sincere wish to call on the people to join hands to steer a pro-people struggle setting aside political differences".

In his May Day message, Gotabaya stressed that instead of following up on who is responsible for the current problematic situation, there needs to be focus on what action can be taken to provide immediate relief to the public, news agency PTI reported citing News First website.

The president pointed out that the working class faced the most serious challenges in the country in the past three years and said that they are also the ones who were resilient in the face of all these challenges and made great commitments to strengthen the national economy.

"As the day-to-day challenges they face are even more intense today, the government is taking various approaches to liberate the people from this situation and alleviate the oppressive nature of the situation," he said.

Meanwhile, former Sri Lankan president and the Chairman of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party Maithripala Sirisena on Sunday reiterated that the government should resign for leading the country into an unprecedented crisis.

Participating in the SLFP May Day rally, he stressed that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa took over a prosperous country, but the current situation is that over 200,000-300,000 people are having to face hunger and starvation.

Sirisena said that fresh elections should be held to elect a new government, emphasising that the demand of the Sri Lankan people is that the leaders of this Government should step down and resign.

"People are dying inside houses. Some even collapse while on the road and die. And someone was shot dead during the protests. This situation could escalate if the Government continues to stay in power. The Government has to accept the demand of the people," PTI quoted him as saying citing, a report by News First website.

Last week, nearly 1,000 trade unions staged a one-day nationwide strike on Thursday, demanding the immediate resignation of the government, including President Gotabaya and Prime Minister Mahinda.

The unions from a number of sectors, including the state service, health, ports, electricity, education, and postal joined the strike under the theme 'Bow to the people - government go home', urging the President, the Prime Minister and the government to "go home".

Sri Lanka needs at least USD 4 billion to tide over its mounting economic woes, and talks with international institutions such as the World Bank as well as countries like India, China, and Japan for financial assistance have been going on to tackle the ongoing crisis.

(With Agency Inputs)