Sri Lankan cabinet resigns amid economic crisis, PM Mahinda Rajapaksa to form new cabinet

Hundreds of students in the Sri Lankan city of Kandy violated the government-imposed weekend curfew to protest the Sri Lankan economic crisis. Along with power cuts, the country is facing acute shortage of food, fuel and other essentials.

Amidst a serious economic crisis in Sri Lanka, all the cabinet ministers of the government of Mahinda Rajapaksa (PM Mahinda Rajapaksa) have resigned collectively, signing a common letter. He has cleared the way for the formation of a new cabinet amid growing anger against the government. The PM will soon hand over the collective resignation letter to the President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. However, the Prime Minister will not resign and will soon form a new cabinet.

Earlier there were reports that Namal Rajapaksa, the eldest son of Mahinda Rajapaksa, has resigned from the post. In the midst of the crisis  in the country, Namal has stepped down from the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. He also criticized the ban on social media. At the same time, speculation about the resignation of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa amid the imposition of emergency in Sri Lanka has been termed wrong by his office. He is under tremendous pressure to quit amid the huge crisis of food, fuel and other essential commodities in the country.


Meanwhile, The Sri Lankan government on Saturday night shut down all social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp and YouTube) to quell protests against President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The Sri Lankan government has said that it is seeking relief from the International Monetary Fund and loans from India and China. New Delhi recently announced that it would extend a USD 1 billion line of credit to Colombo as part of financial assistance to help it buy petroleum.

In other news, more than 600 people were arrested in the country's western province on Sunday for violating the 36-hour nationwide curfew from 6 pm on Saturday and attempting to organize an anti-government rally in the wake of the dire economic crisis.