Will appoint PM, cabinet ‘without any Rajapaksa’ this week: Sri Lankan President

International

oi-Deepika S

Colombo,
May
11:
In
address
to
the
nation,
Sri
Lankan
President
Gotabaya
Rajapaksa
on
Wednesday
announced
that
he
will
appoint
a
new
Prime
Minister
and
a
Cabinet
this
week.

“Sri
Lankan
President
Gotabaya
Rajapaksa
says
he
will
appoint
a
new
PM
and
cabinet
this
week.
President
also
added
that
he
is
ready
to
abolish
the
executive
presidency
once
the
country
stabiliseS,”
reported
NewsWire.

President
Gotabaya
said
that
after
appointing
the
new
Prime
Minister,
and
Government
a
constitutional
amendment
will
be
moved
to
enact
the
content
of
the
19th
Amendment
to
the
Constitution,
which
will
vest
more
powers
with
Parliament.

”I
will
appoint
a
young
cabinet
without
any
of
the
Rajapaksas,” Gotabaya
said,
as
he
started
talks
with
political
parties
to
stop
the
country
from
sliding
into
anarchy.
Minutes
before
his
address,
Gotabaya
held
talks
with
former
prime
minister
Ranil
Wickremesinghe.

”The
new
government’s
Prime
Minister
will
be
given
the
opportunity
to
produce
a
new
program
and
take
this
country
forward,”
he
added.

Sri
Lanka
has
been
without
a
government
since
the
last
two
days.

Speaking
on
the
violence,
the
President
said
what
happened
on
Monday
was
very
unfortunate.
”The
murders,
assaults,
acts
of
intimidation,
destruction
of
property,
and
the
series
of
heinous
acts
that
followed
cannot
be
justified
at
all,”
he
said.

Gotabaya
said
that
the
Inspector
General
of
Police
has
been
instructed
to
conduct
investigations.
He
also
said
that
Sri
Lanka
Police
and
Three-Armed
Forces
have
been
ordered
to
strictly
enforce
the
law
against
those
who
cause
violence.

”Steps
will
be
taken
to
strictly
enforce
the
law
against
those
who
planned,
aided,
promoted,
and
are
connected
to
these
events,” Gotabaya
said
while
urging
everyone
to
maintain
calm.

After
nearly
two
days
of
political
deadlock,
the
stakeholders
are
engaged
in
prolonged
talks
to
try
and
appoint
a
successor
to
Mahinda
Rajapaksa.

Mahinda,
76,
resigned
as
prime
minister
on
Monday
amid
unprecedented
economic
turmoil
in
the
country,
hours
after
his
supporters
attacked
anti-government
protesters,
prompting
authorities
to
impose
a
nationwide
curfew
and
deploy
Army
troops
in
the
capital.
The
attack
triggered
widespread
violence
against
pro-Rajapaksa
politicians.

The
main
Opposition
Samagi
Jana
Balawegaya
(SJB),
the
ruling
party
dissidents
and
President
Gotabaya
Rajapaksa
have
been
holding
talks
for
the
last
two
days
without
much
success.