Colombo (PTI): A senior leader from Sri Lanka's Opposition party Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) on Saturday said his party will prove their majority in Parliament next week for the no-confidence motion against the government led by the Rajapaksa family, according to a media report.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has asked the Opposition to show their majority by garnering the support of 113 lawmakers in the 225-member Parliament to form the interim government.
Everyone will be able to see that we command a majority next week and I will not reveal how we are going to do it as of now, Daily Mirror newspaper quoted SJB MP and Chief Opposition Whip Lakshman Kiriella as saying.
President should resign from his post and then constitutional reforms should follow to ensure checks and balances among the pillars of the government, he said during a press conference.
Another SJB MP Mujibur Rahman, who was also present during the press conference, said his party will also push for impeachment against the President.
We have not given it up, he said.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Friday extended an invitation to form an all-party government comprising all political parties represented in Parliament to address the economic crisis in the island nation.
He made the offer during a discussion with party leaders and representatives who are now operating independently in Parliament, President's media division said in a statement. However, it was not clear if incumbent Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, the eldest brother of the President, will resign to form the all-party government.
Sri Lanka is currently in the throes of unprecedented economic turmoil since its independence from Britain in 1948.
The crisis is caused in part by a lack of foreign currency, which has meant that the country cannot afford to pay for imports of staple foods and fuel, leading to acute shortages and very high prices.
The Rajapaksa family is coming under increasing pressure to resign with tens of thousands of protesters camping permanently outside the presidential secretariat for three weeks now.
The street protests throughout the island nation call for the resignation of the entire Rajapaksa family for their bungling in handling the economic crisis as people are forced to wait in long queues for essentials while enduring long power cuts.
In recent weeks, the powerful Buddhist clergy, civil society and trade chambers have demanded the formation of an interim government to handle the current economic crisis.
The President has also come under pressure from a dissident group of the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) coalition to set up an interim government.
However, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, 76, has refused to resign. He stresses that any interim government should only be formed under his premiership.
The Opposition maintains they would never be part of any government under the two Rajapaksas.
The public agitations demanding the resignation of the entire Rajapaksa family entered its 22nd day on Saturday.
Sri Lanka needs at least USD 4 billion to tide over its mounting economic woes, and talks with international institutions such as the World Bank as well as countries like China and Japan for financial assistance have been going on.
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Tension grips Bangladesh after unrest over uprising leader’s death; vandalism at several places
Dhaka (PTI): Bangladesh interim government on Friday urged citizens to resist violence by “a few fringe elements” as the body of a prominent July Uprising leader, who died in Singapore six days after he was shot, reached the capital.
Various parts of the country were rocked Thursday night by attacks and vandalism, including stone-hurling at the Assistant Indian High Commissioner's residence in Chattogram, after Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus confirmed Sharif Osman Hadi's death in a televised address to the nation.
There were, however, no reports of fresh violence since Friday morning.
Hadi, one of the leaders who had taken part in the student-led protests last year – termed as July Uprising - and a candidate for the scheduled February 12 general elections, died while undergoing treatment at a Singapore hospital six days after he was shot by unidentified men.
Body of Hadi, who was the spokesperson of the Inqilab Mancha, arrived at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) at around 6 pm on a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight, amid tight security and widespread public mourning, state-run news agency Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) said quoting Biman General Manager (Public Relations) Boshra Islam.
Members of the Bangladesh Army, Armed Forces Battalion (AFB) and police were deployed in large numbers to maintain security when Hadi's body was taken out of the airport, it added.
Hadi's passing away at the Singapore General Hospital triggered widespread mourning across political circles, activists of Inqilab Mancha and the general public, BSS said.
Yunus has declared a one-day state mourning on Saturday following Hadi's death.
Earlier on Thursday, soon after Yunus' announcement, protesters took to the streets and attacked offices of leading newspapers, vandalised 32 Dhanmandi with hammers, and also demolished an office of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina's disbanded Awami League party in Rajshahi city.
Regarded as the centre point of Bangladesh’s pre-independence struggle for autonomy for decades, 32 Dhanmandi was largely demolished with excavators on February 5 this year. It was also set on fire soon after the August 5, 2024 fall of the then Awami League government and Hasina fleeing to India.
Protesters also hurled bricks and stones at the residence of the Assistant Indian High Commissioner in Chattogram at 1:30 am, but failed to cause any damage.
Police responded with tear gas and baton charges, dispersing the crowd and detaining 12 protesters. A few injuries were also reported.
Senior officials assured the assistant high commissioner of enhanced security.
In Dhaka, protesters attacked the office of a leading cultural group, Chhayanaut, and brought out the furniture, setting it on fire.
Sporadic violence was also reported from other parts of the country overnight.
Meanwhile, after the flight from Singapore landed in Dhaka, local media reports and videos shared on social media showed Hadi's followers lining up on both sides of the road from the airport to Shahbagh to receive him before his coffin was brought to the Dhaka University Central Mosque for a public meeting.
In a Facebook post, Inqilab Mancha announced that a janaza will be held in Bangladesh on Saturday after Zuhr prayers (afternoon) at Manik Mia Avenue in the capital.
Hadi was shot in the head last week by masked gunmen as he initiated his election campaign at central Dhaka’s Bijoynagar area. He died while undergoing treatment at a Singapore hospital after fighting for his life for six days.
On Thursday night, the National Citizen Party (NCP), a large offshoot of Students Against Discrimination (SAD) that led the July Uprising, which ousted the Hasina-led government, joined a mourning procession on the Dhaka University campus.
Supporters of the group chanted anti-India slogans alleging that Hadi’s assailants fled to India after committing the murder. They called upon the interim government to close the Indian high commission until they were returned.
“The interim government, until India returns assassins of Hadi Bhai, the Indian High Commission to Bangladesh will remain closed. Now or Never. We are in a war!” said Sarjis Alm, a key leader of NCP.
Starting Thursday through night, a group of people, believed to be part of the protesters, also attacked the offices of Bangla newspaper Prothom Alo’s office and the nearby Daily Star at the capital's Karwan Bazar, near the Shahbagh intersection.
Reports said they vandalised several floors while journalists and staff of the newspaper were trapped inside, and the mob ignited a fire in front of the building.
Critically ill former prime minister Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) strongly condemned the vandalism and said that the Yunus-led interim government will have to shoulder its responsibility.
In his address on Thursday, Yunus vowed to bring those involved in Hadi's brutal murder to justice quickly, saying, “No leniency will be shown” to the killers.
“I sincerely call upon all citizens – keep your patience and restraint,” he said.
“No one can stop the democratic progress of this country through threat, terrorist activities or bloodshed,” he said, adding that the responsibility of realising Hadi's dream lies on the shoulders of the entire.
