Sri Lanka PM appeals to end protests: ‘Every minute spent on streets is costing us dollars’

Amid rising anti-government protests, Sri Lankan Prime Miner Mahinda Rajapaksa on Monday addressed the island nation, assuring the people his government was “working round-the-clock” to overcome the economic crisis.
The prime miner said his government was working to resolve the issues to the greatest extent possible over the next few days, and called for patience and support.
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Appealing to the protesters to end their agitation, Rajapaksa said every minute spent on streets deprives the cash-strapped country of precious dollars.

“The government is spending every second of the day to resolve this problem. My family is being slandered, we can tolerate it,” Mahinda said. Stating that the protesters were demanding to send home the entire 225 parliamentarians, he said, “It will be dangerous to reject Parliament”.

Rajapaksa’s speech comes at a time when the nation is rocked massive anti-government protests over weeks of lengthy power outages and shortage of gas, food and other essentials.
 
In an important announcement, the prime miner said that he will reinstate fertilizer subsidy for the farmers of the country. In May last year, the government had imposed a ban on chemical fertilizers, but lifted it partially after widespread criticism in November.

Mahinda Rajapaksa is the elder brother of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
Protesters have poured out onto the streets in several parts of the country, criticising the Rajapaksa family, asking them to quit, and for all the family members to be arrested.
Meanwhile, efforts to establish an all-party interim government in Sri Lanka remained inconclusive as the talks between President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the group of independents from his own ruling SLPP coalition failed to make progress on the issue.