{O/C} In an apparent effort to placate the infuriated protesters demonstrating over the long-drawn-out economic crisis, Sri Lanka's leader has vowed to appoint a new prime minister.
One who will command a majority in the 225-seat parliament to abolish the entrenched executive presidential system.
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The President of Sri Lanka began his televised address by excoriating the violent mobs that assailed peaceful protesters in favour of the former prime minister, who walked the plank and was whisked away to a northeast military base on Monday, as despicable.
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Pouring oil on troubled waters, Gotabaya Rajapaksa has pledged major constitutional reforms to give more power to the 225-member parliament via abolishing the country's executive presidential system that calls all the shots.
This, in addition to appointing a new prime minister deemed trustworthy by most members of the Parliament later this week.
This comes after anarchy played out on the streets of the capital, Colombo, two days after pro-government mobs scythed through peaceful protesters demanding the president's resignation, miring the country in untrammelled violence.
A strict nationwide curfew remains in place to forestall more bloodshed.
Flying into a rage, anti-government protesters pressured the president and his brother, the former prime minister, to relinquish power over a protracted debt crisis that nearly bankrupted Sri Lanka, with disquieting shortages of fuel, food and other essentials.
Police and armed forces can shoot anyone vandalising public property or threatening civilian lives amid fears a power void could allow the military to take over the country.
India has promised unstinting support for Sri Lanka, citing its 3.5-billion-dollar aid package to help the country plow on.
Nine people were killed in the protests and 219 injured, with building and vehicles charred.
Both the European Union and the United States have expressed "grave concern" over who instigated the violence.
The Indian Ocean nation has suspended 7 billion in foreign loans due this year out of 25 billion due by 2026. Its aggregate foreign debt currently stands at a gargantuan 51 billion dollars.
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