Md. Ashraful Islam: An emergency cabinet meeting has ended with contradictory news over the impending resignation of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa in the face of ongoing protests in Sri Lanka.
The meeting called for the beleaguered PM to resign, but his office said he had no plans to do so.
It is learned that the Prime Minister agreed to the request of President Gotabaya to resign after agreeing to the words of some ministers at the meeting.
However, a spokesperson for the Prime Minister’s Office denied the allegations in a statement issued Friday stating “Similar, baseless allegations concerning Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan have been made more than once.
However, some political sources said last evening that the president had agreed with some ministers in the cabinet meeting. The ministers said there was no alternative to the resignation of Prime Minister Mahinda to pave the way for the appointment of a new prime minister.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa called the emergency cabinet meeting to discuss the growing instability in the country in the wake of the country’s deteriorating economic situation.
According to Sri Lankan newspapers, several ministers at the meeting expressed their views that the resignation of the Prime Minister was the only way to calm the protesters and that this was the only way to reduce the unrest.
Some ministers also spoke in support of the Prime Minister. They said the prime minister alone should not be asked to take responsibility for the ongoing situation. However, he acknowledged that their numbers were not enough to defeat President Conte’s government.
At first, Prime Minister Mahinda refused to resign. But later he surrendered and agreed to resign. However, the prime minister’s office has denied any involvement in the plot.
