Sri Lanka, technically helmed by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, is in crisis, one that stems from a severe economic blight. In the immediate aftermath of Thursday night’s violent protests, as many as eleven government-affiliated parties have urged the Head of State to immediately dissolve the cabinet and put in place an “interim government” with the consent of all parties to resolve the economic crisis.

It will be open to question whether a government, which is inherently interim, will boast the wherewithal to address matters economic. Indeed, the stuttering economy of the island nation has forced its citizens to make do without fuel, electricity, cooking gas, medicines, milk powder and other items of food.

The group that is now up in arms is led by the former energy minister, Udaya Gammanpila, and the former industries minister, Wimal Weerawansa. Palpably, there is a rift in the lute and this has served to exacerbate the economic blight. It bears recall that both ministers were dismissed by the President when they criticized the finance minister, Basil Rajapaksa, who happens to be the President’s brother. The finance minister was blamed for “economic mismanagement and the country’s present plight”.

The two former ministers had formed a coalition consisting of eleven parties who are with the government. Slogans like “Gotabaya go home”, much as they resonated within the presidential complex, were an index to the groundswell of public disaffection over the economic blight, one that appears to have shaken the government in Colombo to its foundations.

Opposition parties claimed on Friday that a “peaceful protest” turned violent following the intervention of a pro-government group. It is hard not to wonder whether Sri Lanka bears witness to a struggle between the establishment and the people, some call it one between the people and the First Family. Certainly, the citizen’s patience has been sorely tried after a prolonged bout of economic uncertainty. A “police curfew” has been imposed on parts of Colombo.

More basically the country faces a dollar crunch that has left the Indian Ocean island without fuel for power generation and transport, rendering many out of jobs. Staggering 13-hour power cuts have been imposed not the least because thermal plants have brought the shutters down in the crippling absence of diesel.

Ever since January, India has assisted Sri Lanka by providing nearly $2.5 billion credit lines and “currency swaps” to get food, medicine and fuel. Saturday’s $500 million credit line is intended to facilitate the import of a diesel shipment to regurgitate the power plants which have been closed due to the lack of fuel.

Sri Lanka’s economic woes are generally attributed to the fact that successive governments in Colombo have not diversified exports. They have instead relied on the traditional cash commodities, such as tea, garments and tourism. Additionally, there is a ready market for imported goods. A paradigm shift in matters economic is direly imperative.