Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe has invited members of Parliament, to form an all-party national government to help Sri Lanka recover from the economic crisis.
“The government is currently engaged in great efforts to gradually restore normalcy to the political and social unrest created by the economic crisis that the country is facing today. Accordingly, initial plans required to implement a systematic economic programme are being formulated while preliminary measures are also being undertaken for the creation of economic stability,” Wickremesinghe said in the letter on Friday.
He added, “Accordingly, initial plans required to implement a systematic economic programme are being formulated while preliminary measures are also being undertaken for the creation of economic stability.”
According to Mr. Wickremesinghe, a program could only be put into action with the involvement of all political parties represented in parliament, expert groups, and civil society.
Furthermore, he suggested starting a dialogue with parties on the reintroduction of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution.
The 19A adopted in 2015 trimmed presidential powers and empowered Parliament above the executive president.
In 2015, Wickremesinghe served as the 19th Amendment’s main sponsor. But after Gotabaya Rajapaksa won the presidential election in November 2019, the 19A was repealed.
Wickremesinghe has already started talking to the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, and it should be over in a week as the Sri Lankan government attempts to resolve the situation. Samagi Jana Balawegaya, the biggest opposition party, reportedly has no plans to join the administration.
The World Bank announced on Friday that it would not provide new funds to Sri Lanka until the island nation implemented “deep structural reforms” to stabilise its collapsing economy.
