Sri Lanka President Gotabaya To Appoint New Cabinet Amid Ongoing Anti-Government Protest: Report

The minister will take oath for the office today and Prime Minister Rajapaksa will continue amid spiralling protests against the Sri Lankan government.

Protesters take part in a demonstration against the economic crisis at the entrance of the president's office in Colombo on April 17, 2022, demanding the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa | Photo: AFP

New Delhi: Amid anti-government protest ensuing an economic and political crisis in the island nation, Sri Lankan President Rajapaksa Gotabaya is all set to appoint a new set of ministers with a small size of cabinet for smooth functioning of the government, reported news agency ANI via NewsWire 

The minister will take oath for the office today and Prime Minister Rajapaksa will continue amid spiralling protests against the Sri Lankan government. 

“New cabinet is to be sworn in today. President and PM (Mahinda Rajapaksa) to continue. Some new and young faces will be taken in as Cabinet ministers,” reported the news agency quoting a ruling party. 

Quoting sources, ANI further reported that the "President told the members of his political alliance to constitute a limited Cabinet to run the government".

Following massive anti-government protests across the island nation, the entire Sri Lankan cabinet resigned in the first week of April. 

President Gotabaya’s decision met with objection from an opposition party which opposed the decision saying that the ministers are inexperienced. While the Sri Lankan cabinet is going to meet on April 19 with newly appointed ministers, the Opposition is likely to step up pressure on the back of mounting protests. 

The ruling MPs during the last tenure of the Parliament had said that “president is not going to resign from his post before completing his tenure.”

The island nation is reeling under an economic crisis as the country is facing a deficit of balance of payment, affecting its capacity to import food and fuel. Scarcity of essential goods forced Sri Lanka to take help from neighbouring countries. 

The economic crisis has led to huge protests across the island nation demanding resignation from President Rajapaksa Gotabaya and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.