'PM Is Not Resigning': Sri Lanka PMO 'Categorically Denies' Reports Of Mahinda Rajapaksa Resignation

Statement issued by Sri Lanka PMO also says arrangements are being discussed to address the issues related to fuel supply, electricity and cooking gas shortage.

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. (Source: Getty Images)

New Delhi: Sri Lankan Prime Minister's Office disputed rumours of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa's resignation on Sunday, after local media reported that he is going to put in his papers amid unrest in the country over an unprecedentented economic crisis.

The statement also said arrangements are being discussed to address the issues related to fuel supply, electricity and cooking gas shortage.  

The Daily Mirror was the first to report on the prime minister's and Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa's likely resignations and stated their brother President Gotabaya Rajapaksa intends to establish an interim administration with members of the existing opposition.

The ruling coalition has made a plan to preserve political stability, according to the newspaper.

Sri Lanka is now suffering a foreign exchange deficit, which has resulted in food, fuel, electricity, and gas shortages, and has sought economic aid from friendly nations, news agency ANI reported.

The country is experiencing extensive daily power outages. Since March 8, its currency has been depreciated by over SLR 90 versus the US dollar.

Opposition In Sri Lanka Stages Protest Against Emergency 

Earlier on Sunday, parliamentarians from Sri Lanka's main opposition party, Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), organised an anti-government rally over President Rajapaksa's decision to impose restrictions in the middle of the island nation's greatest economic crisis.

Opposition MPs marched towards the city's main plaza, singing slogans and holding signs that said "Stop Suppression" and "Gota Go Home."

Police officers erected barriers in front of Independence Square, which was designed to mark Sri Lanka's independence from the British in 1948.

Furthermore, according to the Colombo Page daily, Sri Lankan police detained 664 people in the country's Western Province on Sunday for breaching the curfew.