Colombo (TIP): Sri Lanka’s main opposition party joined anti-government protesters on May 13 in rejecting the appointment of a new prime minister, and insisted the president resign because of the country’s disastrous economic crisis. President GotabayaRajapaksa appointed veteran opposition politician RanilWickremesinghe as prime minister late on Thursday, but the comments signalled it was not likely to resolve the political and economic disarray in the strategic Indian Ocean island nation.

A week of violent clashes between protesters and government supporters across the country has left 9 people dead and over 300 injured. The president’s elder brother, MahindaRajapaksa, quit as prime minister on Monday as violence spiralled and is in hiding in a military base.

The rest of the cabinet had quit earlier.

“It is clear the (new) prime minister is remote controlled by the president,” said EranWickramaratne, a parliamentarian and senior member of the main opposition party, the Samagi Jana Balawegaya. “This country wants the Rajapaksas to go home. We are committed to that goal.”

(Reuters)