Colombo, May 11 (Agency) Warning that time was running out, a leading Sri Lankan newspaper on Wednesday urged both President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the opposition to get together and form an interim administration to nurse the country’s tottering economy. The Island said in an editorial that since Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa had resigned and so had the Cabinet, President Rajapaksa was now running a one-man show in the country of 22 million people. “The President … must appoint a Prime Minister and a Cabinet urgently. Having expressed his willingness to form a caretaker government to tackle the present crises, he has to negotiate with the leaders of political parties in both the SLPP coalition and the opposition and arrive at a consensus — and fast.”
The appeal came two days after the more than one month of anti-government protests in Colombo and other places degenerated into violence as pro-government supporters attacked those opposed to the regime, sparking an orgy of attacks on SLPP leaders and property, leaving eight people dead and some 200 injured. “The country is reeling from Monday’s violence, and President Rajapaksa must act decisively and fairly if normalcy is to return,” the Island said. It called for the arrest of all those who organised the SLPP protest march and incited violence, and warned that if he failed to do so, “pressure will mount on him to step down”. “The SLPP goons, however, are not the only danger to society… The organised groups responsible for carrying out arson attacks on SLPP politicians’ houses systematically in many parts of the country, and killings, must also be brought to justice.
“The manner in which they burnt houses, hotels, and vehicles besides stopping buses and using lists of names to identify SLPP supporters, who were dragged out, assaulted and stripped naked, evokes the dreadful memories of a bygone era. Are they limbering up for something far worse?” The daily urged MPs to sink their political differences and unite for the sake of the people “who are in depths of despair lest both the economy and democracy should perish”. “Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena has requested President Rajapaksa to summon Parliament urgently and his call must be heeded. Time is fast running out.”