Sri Lankan PM Mahinda Rajapaksa resigns amid violent clashes over economic crisis
India Today
Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned from his post on Monday. This comes after violent clashes erupted in Colombo over the economic crisis in the country.
Amid the worst economic crisis the country has seen since independence, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned from his post on Monday.
Sri Lanka's health minister Prof Channa Jayasumana has also handed over his letter of resignation to the President.
Until now, the Rajapaksa brothers - President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa - had defied calls for their resignation even as unrest and protests against the government intensified.
On Monday, following reports that Mahinda Rajapaksa may offer to step down as prime minister, a violent clash erupted outside President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's office.
Pro-government groups attacked protesters and more than 20 people were injured in the ensuing violence. The government then imposed a nationwide curfew and deployed army troops in the capital.
Mahinda Rajapaksa took to Twitter to urge citizens to exercise restraint. He wrote, "I urge our general public to exercise restraint and remember that violence only begets violence. The economic crisis we're in needs an economic solution which this administration is committed to resolving."
