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The Financial Express

Sri Lanka president agrees to remove his brother as prime minister

| Updated: April 30, 2022 16:55:10


Mahinda Rajapaksa, left, and his brother Gotabaya Rajapaksa waving to supporters during a party convention in Colombo on August 11 in 2019 –AP file photo Mahinda Rajapaksa, left, and his brother Gotabaya Rajapaksa waving to supporters during a party convention in Colombo on August 11 in 2019 –AP file photo

Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has agreed to replace his older brother, Mahinda Rajapaksa, as prime minister in a proposed interim government to solve a political impasse caused by the country’s worst economic crisis in a decade.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa agreed that a national council will be appointed to name a new prime minister and a Cabinet comprised of all parties in parliament, prominent lawmaker Maithripala Sirisena said on Friday after meeting with the president, reports AP.

Sirisena, who was president before Rajapaksa, was a governing party lawmaker before defecting earlier this month along with nearly 40 other legislators.

However, Rohan Weliwita, a spokesperson for Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, said the president has not communicated any intent to remove the prime minister and a decision will be announced if such a step is taken.

Sri Lanka is near bankruptcy and has announced it is suspending payments on its foreign loans until it negotiates a rescue plan with International Monetary Fund. It has to repay $7 billion in foreign debt this year, and $25 billion by 2026. Its foreign reserves stand at less than $1 billion.

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