Colombo: Sri Lanka’s former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled overseas this week to escape a popular uprising against his government, has said he took “all possible steps” to avert the economic crisis that has engulfed the island nation.
Rajapaksa’s resignation was accepted by parliament on Friday. He flew to the Maldives and then to Singapore after hundreds of thousands of anti-government protesters came out on the streets of Colombo a week ago and occupied his official residence and offices.
Sri Lanka’s parliament met on Saturday to begin the process of electing a new president, as a shipment of fuel arrived to provide some relief to the crisis-hit nation.
During the proceedings Dhammika Dasanayake, the secretary general of Sri Lanka’s parliament, formally read out Rajapaksa’s resignation letter, the contents of which have not previously been made public.
In his letter Rajapaksa said Sri Lanka’s financial crisis was rooted in years of economic mismanagement that pre-dated his presidency, along with the COVID-19 pandemic that drastically reduced Sri Lanka’s tourist arrivals and remittances from foreign workers.
“It is my personal belief that I took all possible steps to address this crisis, including inviting parliamentarians to form an all-party or unity government,” the letter said.
