Lankan PM Wickremesinghe offers to resign to make way for all-party Govt; President Rajapaksa’s whereabouts unknown

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe

COLOMBO, July 9: Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Saturday offered to resign as the Opposition demanded his resignation and that of embattled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to make way for an all-party Government, hours after thousands of anti-Government protesters stormed into the President’s House and occupied it amidst the country’s worst economic and political crisis.

The Prime Minister’s Media Division said that Wickremesinghe will resign after an all-party Government is established and the majority is secured in Parliament.

His office said that Wickremesinghe will continue as Prime Minister until then.

Wickremesinghe told Opposition party leaders that he was taking the decision to step down as the island-wide fuel distribution is due to recommence this week, the World Food Programme Director is due to visit the country this week and the debt sustainability report for the International Monetary Fund is due to be finalised shortly.

So as to ensure the safety of the citizens, Wickremesinghe, 73, said he is agreeable to this recommendation by the Opposition party leaders.

Wickremesinghe was appointed the Prime Minister after anti-Government protests forced the resignation of then Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, the elder brother of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, in May.

Meanwhile, US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Julie Chung on Friday urged the country’s military and police to allow peaceful protests.

“Violence is not an answer… Chaos & force will not fix the economy or bring the political stability that Sri Lankans need right now,” she tweeted. (AGENCIES)