NB BUREAU
Sri Lankan Government on Wednesday said that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa will not resign under any circumstances and will face the current issues.
According to the reports, Chief Government Whip Minister Johnston Fernando while Speaking in Parliament, said the government will face this problem and there is no reason for the President to resign as he was elected to office.
“Government will continue to work to address the issues faced by the public at present,” he said as reported by the Colombo Page
While defending the President’s decision to enforce a state of emergency, which was later revoked last night amid public pressure, Fernando said that ‘such a move was in the best interest of public security”
Rajapaksa had declared the emergency last week after protesters demonstrated near his home in Colombo. The protests initially began over shortages of essentials such as cooking gas, petrol, electricity and milk powder, but now have spread across the island nation and the demonstrators are demanding the resignation of Rajapaksa and his government.
The president and his older brother, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, continue to hold power in Sri Lanka, despite their politically powerful family being the focus of public ire.
(With media inputs)