On Sunday night, all 26 ministers submitted letters of resignation.
Speaking to reporters, Education Minister and Leader of the House Dinesh Gunawardena said the
President Mahinda
“We discussed the situation in the country at length. There will be solutions to the ongoing fuel and power crisis,” Gunawardena said.
The island nation has seen widespread public anger against the government for its mishandling of the worst economic crisis.
The country is grappling with what is said to be its worst economic crisis since independence from the UK in 1948. It is caused in part by a lack of foreign currency, which is used to pay for fuel imports.
People are languishing in long queues for fuel, cooking gas and endure power cuts lasting multiple hours.
The public came out onto the streets independently of political parties. The mass agitation prompted the government to impose a state of emergency which gives security forces sweeping powers to arrest people.
Later, a curfew was imposed to curb public protests which the public defied.
The Indian economic relief extended since mid January has only provided temporary relief as the situation on the ground for scarcities of essentials had not seen any marked improvement.
People have been demanding the resignation of President Rajapaksa. There have been calls for an all party
Rajapaksa has defended his government's actions, saying the foreign exchange crisis was not his making and the economic downturn was largely pandemic driven where the island's tourism revenue and inward remittances waning.
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