Sri Lanka leader vows to shed powers, appoint prime minister

By KRISHAN FRANCIS
Associated Press

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka’s president is promising to appoint a new prime minister, empower the Parliament and abolish the all-powerful executive presidential system as reforms to stabilize the country engulfed in a political crisis and violence triggered by the worst economic crises in memory. In a televised address Wednesday, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said he condemns attacks on peaceful protesters by mobs who came to support his brother and former prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, who resigned Monday. Anti-government protests were triggered by a debt crisis that has nearly bankrupted Sri Lanka and left its people facing severe shortages of fuel and other essentials.