Sri Lanka’s oppn not to join new government

Bloomberg

Sri Lanka’s new Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said he will show his majority in parliament next week but the task for President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s appointee to form a government is looking fraught with the opposition and others saying they won’t take any cabinet roles.
The main opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya party has said it won’t join a so-called unity government. The Sri Lanka Freedom Party, once allied with Rajapaksa’s government but now independent, has also said it will not take any cabinet roles, a news report said indicating that more political uncertainty could lie ahead.
The new premier’s United National Party didn’t win a single seat in the 2020 election, which brought the Rajapaksas back to power, but he was able to return as a lawmaker in 2021 through a system where parties with enough votes can nominate a member under the “national list.” He can only prove a majority with the support of Rajapaksa’s ruling alliance.
The prime minister commenced discussions on formation of a foreign consortium for financial assistance, according to a statement from his media unit. The envoys of India and Japan pledged continued assistance to help stabilise the island nation’s economy and to gather support from other foreign nations. The Chinese ambassador also assured the continuation and review of assistance, while Wickremesinghe had alluded to constitutional reforms promised by the president, in a meeting with the US Envoy.
The main opposition party told a news conference in Colombo that its lawmakers would not join the new government.
“We are telling you that we will not take any portfolio in Ranil Wickremesinghe’s government,” said Ranjith Madduma Bandara, the general secretary of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya party.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa told opposition leader Sajith Premadasa that his offer to form a government under several conditions came too late, local media reported, citing a letter.