Rebellion Within Rajapaksa Family, Entire Cabinet Resigns As Protests Spread Across Sri Lanka

It appears that all is not well in the Rajapaksa clan amid the worst economic crisis in the history of Sri Lanka, as Namal Rajapaksa, the son of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa has stepped down from all official posts.

Youth and Sports Minister Namal Rajapaksa, who is also the nephew of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said on Twitter that he had resigned with immediate effect in the hope it will help "establish stability for the people and the government".

AFP/ File

Divided house

A day earlier, he had given the first indication that he is not on board with the decisions taken by the government led by his family.

On Sunday Namal Rajapaksa had criticized the government's decision to block access to social media platforms to contain anti-government protests over a worsening economic crisis and said the availability of VPNs makes such bans completely useless.

In a tweet, the minister also urged the government to think more progressively and reconsider this decision.

AFP

¡°I will never condone the blocking of social media. The availability of VPN, just like I¡¯m using now, makes such bans completely useless,¡± tweeted Namal Rajapaksa.

Entire cabinet offers to resign

It is not just Namal Rajapaksa who seems to be abandoning the sinking ship.

The entire Sri Lankan Cabinet also has handed over letters to Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa offering to resign from their positions due to the economic crisis in the country, Education Minister Dinesh Gunawardena said late Sunday.

Gunawardena said the president and the prime minister will take appropriate action on the Cabinet's offer to resign.

AFP

Government coalition parties are demanding that a caretaker Cabinet be appointed to pull the country out of the crisis.

Rajapaksa family on thin ice

The actions appear to be efforts to pacify the people, who are protesting countrywide to hold the president and the entire Rajapaksa family responsible.

Sri Lanka's political power is concentrated in the Rajapaksa family. In addition to brothers being president and prime minister, two other brothers are ministers of finance and irrigation.

There were also reports that even Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa had offered to resign, which was later denied by his office.

Reuters

As protests grew and calls increased for him to step down, Rajapaksa doubled down and at midnight Friday assumed emergency powers by decree. The government also declared a countrywide curfew until Monday morning.

It did little to quell the anger of thousands, many first-time protesters, who felt fed up and exhausted by the crisis.

Reuters

Thousands of Sri Lankans continue to defy the government orders and are taking to the streets every day to protest the economic crisis and shortages of food, fuel and medicines.

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