Basil Rajapaksa, the younger brother of Sri Lanka’s president and the country’s former finance minister, said he resigned from Parliament on Thursday.
This comes amid mounting criticism of his alleged role in dragging the island nation into its worst economic crisis in memory.
He told a news conference he had submitted a letter to give up his Parliament seat but insisted that he was not solely responsible for the country’s economic hardships.
“The crisis was there even when I took over,” he said. “I did my best with all my strength.”
Rajapaksa, a member of the powerful political family that has ruled Sri Lanka for much of the past two decades, served as finance minister from July last year until April, when he resigned with other ministers over the government’s failure to resolve the economic situation.
He said Thursday that successive governments that ruled Sri Lanka since the 1950s deserve blame too because “they took loans and spent them” without taking steps to avert a crisis.
The resignation could be seen as a severe blow to the Rajapaksa dynasty, which has faced growing public outrage. Protesters have occupied the entrance to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s office for more than 50 days demanding his resignation, saying the primary responsibility for the economic crisis rests with him and his family, who they accuse of corruption and mismanagement.
This comes amid mounting criticism of his alleged role in dragging the island nation into its worst economic crisis in memory.
He told a news conference he had submitted a letter to give up his Parliament seat but insisted that he was not solely responsible for the country’s economic hardships.
“The crisis was there even when I took over,” he said. “I did my best with all my strength.”
Rajapaksa, a member of the powerful political family that has ruled Sri Lanka for much of the past two decades, served as finance minister from July last year until April, when he resigned with other ministers over the government’s failure to resolve the economic situation.
He said Thursday that successive governments that ruled Sri Lanka since the 1950s deserve blame too because “they took loans and spent them” without taking steps to avert a crisis.
The resignation could be seen as a severe blow to the Rajapaksa dynasty, which has faced growing public outrage. Protesters have occupied the entrance to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s office for more than 50 days demanding his resignation, saying the primary responsibility for the economic crisis rests with him and his family, who they accuse of corruption and mismanagement.
