Censure vote vs Sri Lankan leader fails as crisis simmers

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka's ruling party on Tuesday defeated a move in Parliament to urgently debate a motion censuring President Gotabaya Rajapaksa for the nation's worst economic crisis, which the prime minister said has left enough gasoline stocks for only a day.

It's unclear when the motion will be taken up again.

It doesn't legally bound Rajapaksa to quit, but his refusal to do so has already roiled Sri Lanka, which is on the brink of bankruptcy as it negotiates with other countries and institutions an economic lifeline to be able to import basic supplies, medicines and fuel.

M.A Sumanthiran, a lawmaker from the opposition Tamil National Alliance, proposed that Parliament bypass the usual procedure to take up the motion against Rajapaksa urgently. But the ruling party defeated the motion with a 119-68 vote.

Protesters have occupied the entrance to the president's office for more than a month calling for Rajapaksa's resignation. Months of anti-government rallies have led to the near-dismantling of the once powerful ruling family with the president's one brother resigning as prime minister, and other siblings and a nephew leaving their Cabinet posts.

Protesters accuse the Rajapaksas of triggering the crisis through corruption and misrule.

On Monday evening, the new prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, offered a somber assessment of the country's dire situation. He said that about $75 billion is needed urgently to help provide the nation with essential items, but the country’s treasury is struggling to find even $1 billion.

“At the moment, we only have petrol stocks for a single day,” he said in a televised speech.

“The next couple of months will be the most difficult ones of our lives," he said. “I have no desire to hide the truth and to lie to the...