Sri Lanka PM Mahinda Rajapaksa ready for talks as protests near president’s office

Sri Lanka Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa is all set for a discussion with the ‘Occupy Galle Face’ demonstrators as the agitation enters the fifth day, his office was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

It is reported that the protesters have been holding demonstrations near the office of president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, as the country faces its worst-ever economic crisis, leading to a shortage of essentials.

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Sri Lanka has seen its largest-ever unrest in the last few weeks amid growing calls for resignation of the Rajapaksa brothers. Visuals showed protesters sitting near Gotbaya’s office on patches of grass.

On Tuesday, Colombo said it was suspending its repayment of foreign debt, including bonds and government-to-government borrowing. The island nation was still awaiting the completion of a loan restructuring program with the International Monetary Fund, reports said.

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Reports state that the South Asian country is due to pay nearly $200 million next week. Serpentine queues outside fuel stations and other places for buying essentials have made for one of the most defining visuals for the country’s current challenging times.

Meanwhile, forty governing coalition lawmakers have said they would no longer follow the coalition instructions, plunging the ruling party into a further crisis.

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Earlier, 11,000 MT rice from India reached Colombo. Eldos Mathew Punnose, Central Public Information Officer, Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka told ANI, “11,000 MT rice from India reached Colombo by ship Chen Glory today ahead of New Year celebration in Sri Lanka. 16,000 MT of rice was supplied by India to Sri Lanka in the past week itself. These supplies which mark a special bond between two nations will continue.”

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The opposition has turned down calls of the president to unite. The parliament is set to reconvene on April 19.