Sri Lankan leader pares down family cabinet

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s leader dropped two of his brothers and a nephew from his cabinet Monday, following public anger over the governing family’s treatment of a debilitating economic crisis and calls for his resignation.

Presiding over the island nation’s most painful downturn in memory, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is preparing to meet with the International Monetary Fund soon.

Many legislators have defected from the government, and opposition parties have refused the president’s request to form a unity government.

Huge rallies have nonetheless demanded Rajapaksa stand down, including tens of thousands of protesters camped outside his oceanfront office for more than a week.

However, the new government does not include the eldest brother, Chamal, and the previous finance minister, Basil Rajapaksa, from Gotabaya’s family.

Mahinda’s eldest son, Namal, who oversaw the sports ministry and had been regarded as a future leader before the crisis, was also dropped.

The 21-member cabinet is seven fewer than its predecessor, which resigned en masse two weeks ago in reaction to public fury over nepotism and corruption.

Ministers are entitled to multiple SUVs, a sizable cadre of bodyguards, and unlimited fuel, as well as state housing and amusement expenses.

New finance minister Ali Sabry headed a delegation to Washington over the weekend to initiate discussions with the International Monetary Fund on Tuesday, authorities said.

Sri Lanka is seeking three to four billion dollars from the IMF to overcome its balance-of-payments crisis and boost depleting reserves.

Apart from the acute shortages, the country is also witnessing record inflation and lengthy electrical blackouts as the government has run out of foreign currency to acquire gasoline.

The government last week announced a default on Sri Lanka’s $51 billion foreign debt, and the Colombo Stock Exchange has banned trade for the week to forestall an anticipated market collapse.

Rajapaksa’s parliamentary majority has been placed into question after former allies abandoned the ruling coalition.

The opposition has stated it will attempt to remove the administration through a no-confidence vote in the coming weeks.

Also Read

Sri Lanka delegate to IMF for key talks

COLOMBO: The Sri Lankan government sent a delegation to the International Monetary...