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Colombo:
Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Tuesday left parliament after members of the opposition hooted against him amid a deepening economic crisis in the country.
Harsha de Silva, a member of parliament, shared a video clip on Twitter that shows some parliamentarians holding placards and chanting “Gota Go Home”.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa then speaks to his aides, gets up and leaves the House, the video shows.
“Ouch! This is how the arrival of #SriLanka President @GotabayaR to @ParliamentLK a few minutes ago ended: #GotaGoHome2022. Unplanned and never happened in the history. He had to get up and leave,” Harsha de Silva captioned the video.
Ouch! This is how the arrival of #SriLanka President @GotabayaR to @ParliamentLK a few minutes ago ended: #GotaGoHome2022. Unplanned and never happened in the history. He had to get up and leave. pic.twitter.com/zuXiyQodAs
— Harsha de Silva (@HarshadeSilvaMP) July 5, 2022
The island nation has endured months of galloping inflation and lengthy power cuts after the government ran out of foreign currency to import vital goods. The country has shut down non-essential public services in an effort to conserve fuel.
Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe today told parliament that the country is now bankrupt and the economic crisis will linger until at least the end of next year.
He said Sri Lanka’s ongoing bailout talks with the International Monetary Fund depended on finalising a debt restructuring plan with creditors by August.
“We are now participating in the negotiations as a bankrupt country,” Mr Wickremesinghe said.
The IMF last week said more work was needed to set the nation’s finances right and repair its runaway fiscal deficit before a deal could be struck on a funding arrangement to address its balance of payments crisis.
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