Amid Economic Crisis, Sri Lanka's Cabinet Ministers Resign En-Masse

New Delhi: Sri Lanka's cabinet resigned en masse from their posts at a late-night meeting on Sunday, deepening the country's economic crisis, education minister Dinesh Gunawardena revealed.

Apart from President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his elder brother, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, all 26 ministers have filed letters of resignation, according to the education minister.

Namal Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka's minister of sports and youth affairs and the son of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, resigned from all of his positions as well.

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"I have informed the Sec. to the President of my resignation from all portfolios with immediate effect, in the hope that it may assist HE and PM's decision to establish stability for the people and the government of #LKA. I remain committed to my voters, my party & the people of #Hambanthota," in a tweet, Namal Rajapaksa stated.

I have informed the sec. to the President of my resignation from all portfolios with immediate effect, in hope that it may assist HE & PMs decision to establish stability for the people & the govt of #LKA. I remain committed to my voters, my party & the people of #Hambanthota.

— Namal Rajapaksa (@RajapaksaNamal) April 3, 2022

This comes after the Sri Lankan Prime Minister's Office dismissed rumours of PM Rajapaksa's resignation on Sunday, calling them "fake" and stating that no such plans exist at this time.

Sri Lanka is now experiencing a foreign exchange deficit, which has resulted in food, fuel, electricity, and gas shortages, prompting it to seek economic aid from friendly nations.

Since March 8, the island nation's currency has been depreciated by over SLR 90 versus the US dollar, and it has been subjected to protracted periods of power outages.

On Sunday, the streets of Colombo were desolate as a city-wide curfew was enforced on top of a 36-hour countrywide curfew already in place following protests outside President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's mansion.

Protests by the general population have been recorded in small towns, housing complexes, and other locations around the country.

In an emergency cabinet meeting, cabinet ministers are currently meeting with the President and Prime Minister. According to the English-language publication Daily Mirror, more important resignations are likely in the next few hours.

Namal had previously chastised the administration for imposing an internet embargo.

"I will never condone the blocking of social media. The availability of VPNs, just like I'm using now, makes such bans completely useless. I urge the authorities to think more progressively and reconsider this decision," he had tweeted.

I will never condone the blocking of social media. The availability of VPN, just like I’m using now, makes such bans completely useless. I urge the authorities to think more progressively and reconsider this decision. #SocialMediaBanLK #SriLanka #lka

— Namal Rajapaksa (@RajapaksaNamal) April 3, 2022