COLOMBO — Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is trying to stabilize his government after mass protests prompted most of the cabinet to resign.

Only the president's brother, the prime minister, Mahinda, stayed on as the government grapples with a major economic crisis.

Earlier, Rajapaksa invited opposition parties to join the cabinet.

But spontaneous public protests have continued against shortages of essential goods and rolling power cuts.

On Sunday, many defied a curfew to take to the streets in several cities. Many of the protesters have been calling for the resignation of the president.

The curfew, along with a ban on social media sites including Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter, was meant to halt a planned day of protests, after a demonstration outside the president's house on Thursday night turned violent.

Sri Lanka is struggling to pay for imports of fuel and other goods because of a shortage of foreign exchange, which has exacerbated its worst economic crisis since independence from the UK in 1948.

Sri Lanka needs foreign currency to pay for imports of fuel. With power cuts lasting half a day or more and shortages of food, medicines and fuel, public anger has reached a new high.

The 26 cabinet ministers who resigned included the prime minister's own son, Namal Rajapaksa, who tweeted that he hoped it would help the president and PM's "decision to establish stability for the people and the government".

Sabry, who was justice minister in the previous government, now becomes finance minister, replacing another of the president's brothers, Basil Rajapaksa, who was due to visit Washington this month for talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on a loan programme.

Previous ministers of foreign affairs, education and highways were reappointed to their old positions.

Many protesters who allege that the president and his family are to blame for the situation in the country are angry at the fact that he will remain in power.

Another called it a "play from the dictator's playbook".

"We want all of you gone — the Rajapaksas, the cabinet, their political henchman, the corrupt cronies, their media guys. All of them," another social media user added.

The demonstrations mark a massive turnaround in popularity for Rajapaksa, who swept into power with a majority win in 2019, promising stability and a "strong hand" to rule the country. — BBC