COLOMBO (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s beleaguered prime minister came under increased pressure to step down on Saturday, as loyalists turned against him and backed street protests calling for resignations over a worsening economic crisis.
Media minister Nalaka Godahewa announced his support for the thousands outside President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s office who are demanding he and other members of his family relinquish power.
Sri Lanka is suffering its most painful economic downturn since independence in 1948, with months of blackouts and acute shortages of food, fuel and other essentials.
The crisis has sparked nationwide protests, with angry demonstrators camped outside Rajapaksa’s office for more than two weeks.
Under pressure, the president dropped two of his brothers -- Chamal and Basil -- and nephew Namal from the cabinet this month, but protesters rejected the changes as cosmetic.
Godahewa, previously a staunch Rajapaksa loyalist, said the president should sack his elder brother, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa -- the head of the family -- and allow an all-party interim government to take over.
He said the government had lost its credibility after the police killing of a protester on Tuesday. Godahewa said he had offered his resignation but President Rajapaksa had not accepted it.
Several other senior ruling party members, including Dullas Alahapperuma, a former media minister and cabinet spokesman, have asked the premier to step down.
“I urge the president to appoint a smaller cabinet with a genuine consensus representing all parties in parliament for one year maximum,” Alahapperuma said Saturday.
But the prime minister rejected their demands, insisting a majority of ruling party lawmakers still supported him.
Police and the military stepped up security in the central town of Rambukkana on Saturday, ahead of the funeral of 42-year-old Chaminda Lakshan, who was shot dead when police broke up a protest against spiraling fuel prices.
Food, fuel and electricity have been rationed for months and the country is facing record inflation. Hospitals are short of vital medicines and the government has appealed to Sri Lankans abroad for donations.