Rajapaksa called the speaker of parliament to say he would resign later in the day and that his ally Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe should serve as interim president, angering Sri Lankans struggling with months-long shortages of food, fuel and electricity. The president’s flight ended the rule of the powerful Rajapaksa clan that has dominated politics in the South Asian country for the past two decades. Wickremesinghe’s office declared a state of emergency and a curfew with immediate effect, but later canceled them. His office said the moves would be announced again later. Security forces fire tear gas as protesters take part in an anti-government demonstration outside the Sri Lankan prime minister’s office in the capital Colombo on Wednesday. (Arun Sankar/AFP/Getty Images) “The protesters have no reason to storm the prime minister’s office,” Wickremesinghe said in a statement. “They want the parliamentary process to stop. But we have to respect the constitution. So the security forces advised me to impose a state of emergency and a curfew. I am working to do that.”
The protesters want the prime minister to leave as well
Police stationed outside the prime minister’s office fired several rounds of tear gas and a military helicopter briefly circled overhead, but the protesters appeared undeterred and eventually entered the compound. Wickremesinghe’s team refused to reveal his whereabouts. “No matter what, everyone in this crowd will be here until Ranil also resigns,” said college student Saduka Kavinda, 25, standing next to a breached, open gate of the prime minister’s office. WATCH l Sri Lankan diaspora in Canada watches events in Colombo with concern, anger:
Sri Lankan students in Canada show support for Colombo protesters
Sri Lankan university students Manoj Kaushalya Rathnayake in Fredericton, Shenaly Kuluppuarachchi in Winnipeg and Subitha Tharmakulasagaram in Montreal say they stand with protesters in their country’s capital, Colombo, calling for political reforms amid economic turmoil. In a video statement, the Speaker of Parliament, Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, said: “The Speaker contacted me by phone and said that he will ensure that his letter of resignation is received by me today.” “I call on the public to have confidence in the parliamentary process we have outlined for the appointment of a new president on the 20th and to be peaceful.” The state-run Rupavahini TV station briefly stopped broadcasting after protesters entered the premises. A second government television station, the Independent Television Network, also stopped broadcasting, although the reason was not immediately clear. Protests against the economic crisis have simmered for months and culminated last weekend when hundreds of thousands of people occupied key government buildings in Colombo, blaming Rajapaksa and his allies for runaway inflation, corruption and severe shortages of fuel and medicine.
“They both have to go”
Government sources and aides said the president’s brothers, former president and prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and former finance minister Basil Rajapaksa, were still in Sri Lanka. Gotabaya Rajapaksa, his wife and two bodyguards left the main international airport near Colombo on a Sri Lankan Air Force aircraft early Wednesday, the Air Force said in a statement. Protesters reacted after entering the office premises of Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Wednesday. (Adnan Abidi/Reuters) A government source and a person close to the president said he was in Malé, the capital of the Maldives. The president would likely go to another Asian country from there, the government source told Reuters. A spokesman for the main opposition party in the Maldives said it was regrettable that the archipelago’s government allowed Rajapaksa to land, according to an Associated Press report. “Why we should be a safe haven for anyone is beyond me,” said Mohamed Shareef, of the Progressive Congress Coalition in the Maldives. Wickremesinghe, whose private home in Colombo was set on fire on Saturday, had offered to resign as prime minister but did not repeat that offer after taking over as president on Wednesday. If he goes, the speaker will act as president until a new president is elected on July 20, as planned. Protesters occupy the lawn of the Presidential Secretariat on Wednesday in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The country is in the throes of an economic crisis that has seen many citizens on rations or queuing for hours for fuel. (Abhishek Chinnappa/Getty Images) Protest leaders say the prime minister is a Rajapaksa ally and have warned of a “decisive battle” if he does not step down. “We are strongly against the Gota-Ranil government. Both must go,” said Buddhi Prabodha Karunaratne, one of the organizers of the recent protests.
The Canadian embassy is closed
Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned as prime minister in May after anti-family protests turned violent. He remained hidden in a military base in the east of the country for a few days before returning to Colombo. On Tuesday, Sri Lankan immigration officials prevented Basil Rajapaksa, who resigned as finance minister in April and resigned his parliamentary seat in June, from flying out of the country. Wickremesinghe was appointed prime minister to succeed Mahinda Rajapaksa in May, the sixth time he has served in the role since the early 1990s. 📣 Demonstrations continue in If you are in the area:▪️ Avoid demonstrations▪️ Expect an increased security presence and transportation disruptions▪️ Follow the instructions of the local authorities▪️ Follow the local media to stay informed pic.twitter.com/4LWaWGqulQ —@CanHCSriLanka Protester Sithara Sedaraliyanage, 28, said the people want new leaders who are young, educated and capable of running the economy. “We don’t know who’s next, but hopefully they’ll do a better job of fixing the problems,” he told the AP. “Sri Lanka was a prosperous country.” The Canadian and American embassies in the country have suspended in-person consular services due to the unrest.
Based on China, India
The island nation’s tourism-dependent economy was first hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and then suffered by a drop in remittances from overseas Sri Lanka. A ban on chemical fertilizers hit production, although the ban was later reversed. The Rajapaksas implemented populist tax cuts in 2019 that hit public finances, while shrinking foreign exchange reserves limited imports of fuel, food and medicine. A couple cuddles and sleeps on the lawn inside the Presidential Secretariat on Wednesday in Colombo. (Abhishek Chinnappa/Getty Images) Petrol has been severely discounted and long queues have formed in front of shops selling cooking gas. Core inflation hit 54.6% last month and the central bank has warned it could rise to 70% in the coming months. The political deadlock added fuel to the economic crisis, as the absence of an alternative unity government threatened to delay an expected bailout from the International Monetary Fund. The government must submit a debt sustainability plan to the IMF in August before reaching a deal. In the meantime, the country relies on aid from neighboring India and China.
