COLOMBO, Pakistan: The Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa has tendered his resignation on Monday as the Country has plunged into the worst-ever economic crisis.
The resignation followed the intensified nationwide protests in Sri Lanka over soaring prices and power cuts since last month and the imposition of the curfew in major Cities.
Effective immediately I have tendered my resignation as Prime Minister to the President.
අගමැති ධූරයෙන් ඉල්ලා අස්වීමේ ලිපිය ජනාධිපතිතුමා වෙත යොමු කළෙමි.
— Mahinda Rajapaksa (@PresRajapaksa) May 9, 2022
The Sri Lankan authorities imposed the curfew and deployed the army today after dozens of people were hospitalized in the biggest clashes in weeks of anti-government protests.
Earlier on Friday, the President of Sri Lanka Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who is also the younger brother of Mahinda Rajapaksa, had asked the premier to step down as a solution to solve the ongoing political crisis.
Sri Lankans have suffered months of blackouts and dire shortages of food, fuel, and medicines in the island’s worst economic crisis since gaining independence from Britain in 1948, sparking weeks of overwhelmingly peaceful anti-government protests.