COLOMBO: Sri Lanka's Leader of Opposition Sajith Premadasa on Wednesday claimed that Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardene had assured that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was ready to resign if all political parties request him, media reports said on Wednesday.
There have been growing calls for President Rajapaksa's resignation over the past few weeks over his government's mishandling of Sri Lanka's worsening economic crisis.
Speaker Abeywardene, however, denied informing party leaders that the President was ready to step down, the Daily Mirror newspaper reported.
"There is a report circulating on social media that I have informed party leaders of the President's willingness to resign if they (party leaders) make a request. I only said the President is ready to handover the government to anyone who commands majority," the Speaker clarified in Parliament.
Leader of Opposition Premadasa reiterated that Speaker Abeywardena had said this at a party leaders' meeting. "You said to the party leaders that all party leaders of his House go and ask him to step down, he is ready for it. We're ready to do that. You give us the opportunity. All of us in the Opposition are ready to unanimously make that statement."
"I am not a fool to distort what you said. Don't deny your statement. You are a Tom Pachaya (blatant lier)," Premadasa said. The Speaker said it was Premadasa who was coming up with "Tom pacha (blatant lie)".
Chief Opposition Whip Lakshman Kiriella also confirmed that the Speaker did not say. A unanimous call from party leaders would have to include the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), led by President Rajapaksa's elder brother Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. Political analysts say it is unlikely that the SLPP will back such a call.
Sri Lanka, which is on the brink of bankruptcy, is grappling with an unprecedented economic turmoil, the worst since its independence from Britain in 1948.
The crisis is caused in part by a lack of foreign currency, which has meant that the country cannot afford to pay for imports of staple foods and fuel, leading to acute shortages and very high prices.
The island nation is witnessing large-scale protests against the government's handling of the debt-ridden economy - the worst-ever economic crisis in the country's history.
Protests demanding the resignation of the President and his Sri Lanka Podujana (Peramuna)-led government have intensified as shortages continued and prices soared.
Last week, the Sri Lankan government said it would temporarily default on USD 35.5 billion in foreign debt as the pandemic and the war in Ukraine made it impossible to make payments to overseas creditors.