Sri Lanka’s Finance Minister Ali Sabry resigns a day after appointment

Ali Sabry, who was appointed as Sri Lanka’s Finance Minister on Monday, said that he will be resigning from this new position just a day after being sworn in. Sabry, 51, was the Minister of Justice in President Gotabaya Rajapaksa‘s cabinet.

With Sri Lanka’s political turmoil worsening by the day, all cabinet ministers resigned from their position early Monday, including Ali Sabry. Basil Rajapaksa, the President’s brother and Sri Lanka Finance Minister as of last week, was sacked from his position amid an economic crunch.

In his resignation letter released on Tuesday afternoon, Finance Minister Ali Sabry wrote, “After much reflection and deliberation, and taking into consideration the current situation I am now of the view, for your Excellency to make suitable interim arrangement to navigate this unprecedented crisis, fresh and proactive and unconventional steps need to be taken, including the appointment of a new Finance Minister.”

Sabry also offered to step down from this current position in the Sri Lankan Parliament if President Gotabaya Rajapaksa wanted someone to “handle the situation from outside.”

Four new appointments were made to the President’s cabinet on Monday evening in order to maintain the legitimacy of the government.

These included Sabry as the Finance Minister, Leader of the House Dinesh Gunawardena as Minister of Education, Chief Government Whip Johnston Fernando was sworn in as the Minister of Highways and Prof. GL Peiris took over as the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Sri Lanka’s largest opposition party, United People’s Force (SJB), rejected President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s proposal to form a unity government as protests continued Monday over the country’s worst economic crisis in memory and deepening mistrust in his leadership.

“The people of this country want Gotabaya and the entire Rajapaksa family to go and we can’t go against the people’s will and we can’t work alongside the corrupt,” top SJB official Ranjth Madduma Banadara told The Associated Press.