Johnston tells Parliament: President will not resign despite protests

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa will not resign despite widespread protests against his handling of the country’s economic crisis, a minister told parliament, as reported by Reuters.

“May I remind you that 6.9 million people voted for the president,” Chief Government Whip and Highways Minister Johnston Fernando said in response to opposition criticism.

“As a government, we are clearly saying the president will not resign under any circumstances. We will face this.”

In 2020, Mahinda Rajapaksa won elections to become Sri Lanka’s prime minister, serving under his brother and president Gotabaya. In 2021, another sibling, Basil, was named finance minister, tightening the family’s hold on power.

Less than a year later, the country’s pre-eminent political dynasty is in trouble, as protesters take to the streets making demands that would have been unthinkable before the economic crisis struck: that the president steps down.

“Gota go home!” hundreds of people chanted along a leafy boulevard in Sri Lanka’s commercial capital Colombo this week as cars drove past, honking their horns in support.