Except for President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka's entire Cabinet resigned en masse on Sunday following the island country's worst economic catastrophe since independence, PTI reported.

Namal Rajapaksa, the prime minister's son, and his brothers Chamal and Basil Rajapaksa were among the 26 ministers who resigned.

"We submitted resignations to the prime minister, indicating that we are prepared to leave at any time," Education Minister Dinesh Gunawardena told reporters in Colombo, Bloomberg reports. "After consulting with the president, the next steps will be determined."

According to The Hindu, the resignations enable the president to establish a new Cabinet in response to coalition partners' demands for a caretaker administration.

Sri Lanka is in the midst of an economic crisis, with its foreign reserves at an all-time low. In August, the nation declared a financial emergency. Sri Lankans are currently experiencing shortages of petrol, diesel, milk powder, cooking gas, and kerosene, among other necessities. Due to gasoline scarcity, the country has been experiencing daily power outages of up to 13 hours.

Authorities issued a 36-hour national curfew on Saturday in response to a spate of protests over the economic crisis. Additionally, the government has restricted access to social media platforms, including Facebook, WhatsApp, and Twitter.

The development on Sunday came hours after numerous opposition parties and student groups staged protests against the Rajapaksa government's reaction to the situation.

According to The Hindu, despite the curfew and significant police presence, university students in Colombo staged a march and yelled anti-government slogans. Similar protests took place in the Kandy district as well.

Sajith Premadasa, the Opposition leader, accused the Sri Lankan government of reverting to dictatorial methods and dictatorship.

Premadasa told The Hindu, "Today is one of the darkest days in Sri Lanka's democratic political history." "The regime has abused its excessive power to subjugate and constrain the country's democratic rights."