According to media reports, Rohan Valivita, a spokesman for Sri Lankan Prime Minister Rajapaksa, said the 76-year-old prime minister had sent his resignation to his younger brother and President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.
He said that the Prime Minister has paved the way for a new united government.
Mahinda Rajapaksa said in a tweet that he has submitted his resignation as Prime Minister to the President, it will be implemented immediately.
Earlier, the Sri Lankan government imposed a nationwide curfew and deployed troops in hospitals after dozens of people were injured during the protests, and protesters were attacked by pro-government protesters armed with sticks.
The US ambassador to Sri Lanka condemned the crackdown on peaceful protesters and called on the government to conduct a full investigation into the incident, including the arrest of those responsible.
“Today we sympathize with those who have been injured and we are pushing for tolerance and tolerance across the country,” US Ambassador Julie Chung said in a tweet.
It is to be noted that Sri Lanka is suffering from the worst economic crisis since independence where it has been facing shortage of energy, food and medicine for many months while the people are protesting peacefully against the government.
However, the worst protests erupted in the capital, Colombo, on Monday, with large numbers of supporters of the president and prime minister taking to the streets.
The unions said they would hold daily protests from Monday to put pressure on the government to end the “emergency” situation.
Union leader Ravi Kamodesh had said that he would organize and mobilize workers working in public and private institutions to gather there during the upcoming session of the National Assembly on May 17.
“All we want is for the president and his family to step down,” he said in a statement.
On the other hand, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa in his statement on social networking site Twitter had urged that “our people should show restraint and remember that tensions will only make matters worse”.
“In the current economic crisis, we need an economic solution, which the administration is determined to solve,” he said.
The Sri Lankan government declared a state of emergency on Friday, giving the military the power to arrest civilians.
The defense minister had said in a statement yesterday that the attitude of the anti-government protesters was provocative and threatening and disrupted the provision of basic services.
Sri Lankan President Rajapaksa was not seen in public on March 31 after violent protesters stormed his private residence in Colombo.
On the other hand, the country’s largest opposition party has already said that it will not be part of the government formed with the support of any member of the Raja Pakse family.
It is to be noted that Sri Lanka is facing a severe economic crisis after the global epidemic of corona virus as the loss of income from tourism and remittances has damaged its economy.
As a result, the country has run out of foreign exchange to pay off its debts, forcing the government to ban imports of many goods.
As a result, inflation, medicines, severe fuel shortages and prolonged power outages in the country. In April, the country announced that it was unable to repay 51 51 billion in foreign debt.