Ali Sabry. Picture: REUTERS/DINUKA LIYANAWATTEWhen former justice minister Ali Sabry visited Sri Lanka's president last Monday, it was for talks amid an economic crisis that has brought thousands of protesters onto the street and left the island nation short of fuel, medicine and power.
“Normally I wear my jacket to go for any official function. I took oath even without my jacket, because I went for a discussion and then, I had to take that [oath].” For four days after his resignation offer, no other candidate stepped forward, he said, and by Friday he had resolved to go ahead, following further discussions with family, the president and officials.On Friday, when Sabry rose to speak in parliament, a legislator pointedly asked in what capacity he was talking. Sabry confirmed that he was still finance minister.
He attended school in his hometown in Kalutara and Colombo's Zahira College. At Sri Lanka Law College, he was general secretary of the law students' union and later deputy president of the bar Association of Sri Lanka, the country's largest collective of lawyers. Sabry said he has confidence in a team of key officials, including a new central bank governor and treasury secretary, alongside an advisory committee.Udeeshan Jonas, chief strategist at Colombo-based investment bank CAL Group, said Sabry has shown courage taking on a job that no-one else appears to want.