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President Gotabaya Rajapaksa of Sri Lanka lifted the state of emergency late Tuesday after dozens of MPs quit the ruling coalition, leaving his administration with a minority in parliament as it tries to suppress protests amid the country's worst economic crisis in decades.

Finance Minister Ali Sabry resigned a day after his appointment, only days before important meetings with the International Monetary Fund for a loan programme.

On Monday, Rajapaksa disbanded his Cabinet and sought to establish a unity government as public outrage grew over the governing family's handling of the debt-ridden economy, which has resulted in food and fuel shortages as well as chronic power outages. A doctors' group also warned the administration that there was a critical scarcity of drugs that might bring the health system to its knees.

Rajapaksa annulled the emergency rule ordinance that took effect last Friday in a gazette issued late Tuesday.

The gazette stated, "I, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, President of the Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, hereby annul the gazette with effect from midnight on the 5th of April 2022," referring to the prior decree.

In terms of politics, the president's elder brother, Mahinda Rajapaksa, might be replaced as prime minister, or hasty parliamentary elections could be held before the scheduled vote in 2025.

There was no hint of what was being planned right away.

In his letter of resignation to the president, Sabry stated that he believed he had "behaved in the best interests of the country."

"At this critical juncture, the country requires stability to weather the current financial crisis and hardships," he wrote in the letter obtained by Reuters, adding that he would resign from his parliamentary seat if the president wished to replace him with someone from outside.

Demonstrations against food and fuel shortages, which have been sparked by a lack of foreign cash for imports, began last month but have picked up steam in recent days, with conflicts between protestors and police occurring in certain cases.

On Tuesday, dozens of peaceful demonstrators gathered near the prime minister's residence.