Thousands of people defy the curfew imposed by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and take to the streets to protest against the shortage of essential goods including gas, fuel, power outages and rising costs while the President and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa meet to discuss the growing unrest among the public and how best to handle the situation.

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By Chandani Kirinde

Thousands of people defied the curfew imposed by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, and took to the streets to protest against the shortage of essential goods including gas, fuel, power outages and rising costs amidst speculation of a Cabinet reshuffle on the cards to diffuse growing public anger.

The President and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa met last night to discuss the growing unrest among the public and how best to handle the situation.

The meeting came amidst speculation that the Prime Minister would hand in his resignation to pave way for the President to appoint a new Cabinet but this was promptly denied by the PM’s office which said there were no such plans at present.

A blanket ban on social media from early hours of Sunday to late afternoon as well a 36-hour curfew which came into effect on Saturday night did not dampen the spirit of many anti-Government protestors who took to the streets with their rallying cry ‘GotaGoHome’.

Over 600 persons were arrested for violating the curfew on Saturday night, Police said. The curfew will end at 6 a.m. today.

Hundreds of students at the Peradeniya University took part in a protest march which was dispersed by Police by using tear gas and water cannons while other protests went uninterrupted.

Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa led a group of Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MPs to Independence Square in Colombo but were prevented from entering the area which was heavily barricaded by the Police.

Premadasa urged the Police to allow people the right to protest and not to use force on them.

Meanwhile a group of dissident ruling party MPs including Wimal Weerawansa, Udaya Gammanpila and Vasudeva Nanayyakara met with the President on Saturday night and handed over a proposal for setting up an interim Government.

They also met with Mahinda Rajapaksa and informed him that the setting up of an interim Government was the only viable option to overcome the economic and political impasse in the country.

Such an interim arrangement would be after discussions with all political parties in Parliament and with the agreement of the majority of members in Parliament, Weerawansa said.

He also said the Government is acting contrary to the mandate given by the people and accused it of stifling the people’s right to peaceful protest.

Meanwhile the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) has proposed to the President to set up a caretaker Government to address the urgent economic needs of the people.

The President has remained non-committal to the proposals so far.
The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) has called on President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to appoint a caretaker Government within a week, to address the multiples crises.

In a letter dated 1 April, the party has informed the President that if the necessary steps are not taken to appoint a caretaker Government, all 14 SLFP MPs in Government will resign from their positions and remain independent in Parliament.

The SLFP also said that in the next few days, discussions should be held with all the political parties represented in Parliament and necessary steps should be taken to govern the country in the future under a caretaker Government with a sustainable program.

Courtesy:Daily FT