Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Wednesday promised to appoint a new prime minister and cabinet this week as turmoil in the country continues.
Sri Lanka has been without a government since May 9 when Mahinda Rajapaksa, Gotabaya's brother, resigned as prime minister.
However, there appears to be few takers for the role. Main opposition leader Sajith Premadasa has been insisting that Gotabaya step down from the presidency for him to take the prime minister's role. But Premadasa's attempts to take the moral high ground haven't gone down too well with his own party. Harin Fernando, a leader in Premadasa's Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), said on Wednesday “This is not a time to put conditions and shirk our responsibility; every passing minute without a government would be disastrous.” Fernando added he would support any interim prime minister to run the country.
Daily Mirror reported on Thursday Gotabaya had opened lines of communication to push for an interim prime minister. Daily Mirror reported Gotabaya contacted SJB MP Sarath Fonseka to offer him the premiership. Fonseka was chief of the Sri Lankan Army in the concluding phases of the civil war, but he fell out with the Rajapaksa clan after standing in the 2010 presidential election. Daily Mirror reported Fonseka's stance on the question of who should be prime minister was divergent from the view espoused by Premadasa.
But on Thursday morning, Fonseka dismissed the reports of him considering the PM's post as propaganda. Fonseka wrote on Facebook “I strongly condemn the attempt to mislead the people through false propaganda. I condemn getting any post in a government where Gotabaya Rajapaksa is the president. I also stand unconditionally with the key demands demanded by the entire Sri Lankan nation through a peaceful non-violent citizens struggle. I am deeply sensitive to the requests of the people who are raising voice for the country, for the people, for the future of the nation, from the Gallumuwadora protest...”
Daily Mirror reported Gotabaya had also held discussions with former prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. “While there was no official confirmation from Wickremesinghe directly if he had agreed, senior political sources said that Wickremesinghe was likely to be appointed [as prime minister] this week, and thereafter form an interim government with parties that agreed to join,” Daily Mirror reported.
Interestingly, news of the meeting between Ranil Wickremesinghe and Rajapaksa appeared to add to the confusion in the SJB. “When news of Wickremesinghe’s meeting with Rajapaksa spread, the SJB camp said it is willing to form a new government under four conditions. First, the President must resign within a stipulated period, second, the President must not interfere in the work of a new government, third the executive presidency must be abolished and fourth general elections must be held after economic stability is assured,” Daily Mirror reported.
Daily FT reported Wickremesinghe could be sworn in on Thursday. The publication reported Wickremesinghe “was assured of support from the SLPP MPs by the President while a breakaway group from the SJB numbering around 20 too are likely to support him.”
