Public service not an eight-hour job: Lanka president Ranil Wickremesinghe

Wickremesinghe urges public servants to work overtime 'to make cash-strapped island a prosperous nation this year'

Public service in Sri Lanka is not an eight-hour job, President Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Monday, as he urged public servants to work overtime to make the cash-strapped island a prosperous nation this year.
 

Sri Lanka was hit by an unprecedented financial crisis last year due to a severe paucity of foreign exchange reserves that also sparked political turmoil in the island nation which led to the ouster of the all-powerful Rajapaksa family.
 

“Each person’s duties (public servants) cannot be limited to 8 hours a day and 5 days a week. Let's all work with commitment. By the end of 2023, I hope to take this country forward with the support of all of you and restore normalcy,” news portal newsfirst.lk reported, quoting Wickremesinghe as saying during an event held at the President's Office here on Monday.
 

The President said no public servant can shirk responsibility as 2023 was a crucial year for the country's economy. Incidentally, Sri Lanka turns 75 as an independent nation later this year. From April to July, chaos reigned supreme in Sri Lanka, with miles-long queues forming at fuel stations and irate residents coming out in thousands blocking roads.
 

In May last year, the Sri Lankan government declared a debt default on over $51 billion in foreign loans — a first in the country's history.
 

The resignations by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in July and his elder brother Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa in May 2022 amid massive anti-government protests subsided with the formation of a government led by their ally Wickremesinghe.
 

"Five and a half months ago, we took over a historic task at this office. During those five and a half months, we took steps to establish normalcy in the country at a time when the government had collapsed and the economy had also collapsed.
However, not all our economic problems are over yet. Nevertheless, today we have the ability to provide fuel, gas, foodstuff and fertilisers as required," Wickremesinghe said. 

Gotabaya applies for US citizenship restoration

Former Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled the country in July last year and then returned after nearly two months, has applied for restoration of his US citizenship after he failed to get asylum in any country, according to a media report. However, the US government is yet to consider the request, The Sunday Times newspaper reported. In 2019, Rajapaksa renounced his US citizenship to contest the 2019 presidential polls. “An appeal by his lawyers to the US government — more pointedly the Department of State to restore his citizenship, which he renounced to contest the November 2019 presidential election, has still not been considered,” the report said. ­The former president and his immediate family are currently in Dubai on holiday.