Colombo: Forty Two Sri Lankan MPs withdrawn their support to the coalition Government led by the President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s ruling party, Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) on Tuesday.

42 MPs announced they would sit independently in the Parliament. Among the MPs, 14 are from Sri Lanka Freedom Party, 10 belong to constituent parties of the Government and 12 are SLPP MPs. The ruling SLPP-led alliance won 146 seats in the 225 member Parliament in the 2020 general election.

Tuesday’s development comes amid an ongoing turmoil in the island nation due to the country’s worst ever economic crisis, triggering widespread anti-Government protests. According to the Sri Lankan news reports  Rajapaksa on Monday night said that he will not resign, but was ready to hand over the government to whichever party holds 113 seats in Parliament.
Lack of dollar reserves and depreciation forced economic crisis lead to severe shortages of fuel, LPG, electricity and essential food and people are demanding Rajapaksa to give up power immediately.