“To ensure a peaceful transition, the President said he would step down on July 13,” Mr Abhaywardhan said.
“To ensure a peaceful transition, the President said he would step down on July 13,” Mr. Abhayvardhan said.
Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapakse Will resign on July 13, the country’s parliamentary speaker said on Saturday night, hours after protesters attacked the presidential secretariat, the official and private homes of Mr. Gotabaya and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, to show public anger over the country’s worsening economic crisis. For. ,
late saturday evening, Angry mob set fire to Mr. Wickremesinghe’s private residenceDespite military security. His office said that the PM or his family was not at the residence at that time, so far no casualties have been reported.
According to top defense sources, President Rajapaksa left his official residence on Friday night “as a precaution”. “He is under the protection of the army at a safe place in the country,” a senior official said on condition of anonymity. HinduWhile some media reports said that he was evacuated by the Navy a few hours before the incident.
Thousands of citizens took out a huge rally on SaturdayAs part of a new wave of protests in the island, the president and prime minister are reiterating their calls for immediate resignation, for failing to stem the crushing economic downturn that has left citizens scrambling for essentials. Have given.
After an urgent meeting of party leaders convened by the parliamentary speaker on Saturday evening, Mr Wickremesinghe said he would resign and facilitate an “all-party government”. However, there was no official announcement of his stepping down till Saturday night. “The PM has also told the President that he will resign as soon as such an all-party government presents itself, and is ready to take charge at once, as it is vital to the stability of the country with important meetings and functions. Is. week,” Dinouk Colombez, the prime minister’s media spokesman, told Hindu,
The president, who told party leaders that Mr Gotabaya agreed with their collective decision, later conveyed to the president a demand from party leaders that he and the prime minister step down.
people’s rebellion
Events came on the 92nd day of continuous demonstration of citizens in Colombo, where dozens of resistance tents are living in the city, while other groups continue to protest across the island, setting up local versions of ‘Gota Go Gama’ or ‘Gota Go’ villages, the main demand of an unprecedented people’s uprising. to repeat. island. Large-scale protests erupted in April, as Sri Lanka’s economic crisis deepened after balance-of-payments problems caused a severe dollar shortage, manifested in shortages and rising living costs.
Despite the police firing water cannon and tear gas shells in the area on Saturday afternoonProtesters stormed the President’s palatial official residence. Video footage of protesters taking a dip in a swimming pool, cooking in a kitchen and occupying a plush bed in the home of the country’s most powerful man soon went viral on social media. Dozens of people entered the nearby presidential secretariat, the entrance of which has been blocked and occupied for nearly three months by protesters calling the anti-government movement site ‘Gate Zero’ in Colombo’s iconic Ocean’s Galle Face. Protesters also stormed the Prime Minister’s official residence Temple Tree and his private residence, which they set on fire.
Huge crowds turned up in Colombo on Saturday morning, a clear sign of the citizens’ resolve to oust their “failed” leaders. Despite public transport being badly hit – the country has almost run out of fuel – thousands of people reached the capital, traveling from other districts in overcrowded buses or trains. Barring a few who had conserved fuel for their personal vehicles, most of the protesters reached Galle Face on foot, including people from the suburbs of Colombo, who walked 20 km or more to the venue in the hot sun . Dozens broke into the pickup truck, and chanted “Gota go home” as they held onto the vehicle’s metal frame with one hand, while waving the Sri Lankan flag in the other. Student groups had already marched to the main agitation site in the capital on Friday, encountering tear gas and water cannons fired by the police. “We have seen very little change or actual action from the President and the government, despite protests from citizens for almost three months. Today’s call is unanimous. We, as the people of Sri Lanka, have no choice but to give this call and stay on the streets today, we are claiming our power,” said Bimsara Premaratne, an actor involved in the protest.
A view of Galle Face packed with protesters on July 9, 2022. credit: special arrangement
The government did its best to quell the protest – asked the public prosecutor to obtain a restraining order, which the magistrate’s court refused to grant, and suddenly imposed a “police curfew” late Friday, allowing people to stay home. ordered to stay in. The curfew backfired amid widespread protests from lawyers, political opposition and civic activists. The authorities were forced to remove it on Saturday morning. However, police repeatedly fired tear gas, water cannons and attacks on peaceful protesters and media persons on Saturday, injuring dozens.
economic challenges remain
When the President and Prime Minister resign, the task of forming an all-party government will prove challenging, as the Sri Lankan opposition is fragmented and the opposition parties do not have a parliamentary majority.
Even if the opposition forms the government, perhaps with the support of lawmakers in government benches, it will be the heyday of a crashing economy with no quick fix. A change at the top of the country will not ease its economic woes. The International Monetary Fund (IMF), which has already formed an aid team on creditors expressing confidence and satisfaction in Sri Lanka’s debt restructuring strategy, may take longer to assess the stability of the new regime. Bilateral lenders have also reportedly decided to withdraw further assistance until Colombo’s talks with the creditors are successful. Sri Lanka opted for a pre-emptive default on its $50 billion foreign debt in April and has since pinned its hopes on an IMF package to qualify for the new loan.
Despite the country’s harsh economic reality, President Gotabaya’s resignation would signal the “end of the Rajapaksa dynasty for the time being”, senior political scientist Jaydev Uyangoda said. “This is a major victory for the political struggle, because even for political parties it has become very difficult to remove Rajapaksa. It is the result of direct action of citizens, and is outside the purview of the political party. Others In terms only a bloody revolution would have achieved this,” he added. Hindu,
opinion | Getting Sri Lanka out of the economic crisis
At the same time, Sri Lanka has a “daunting challenge”, facing multiple crises – economic, social, political and governance. “The people should be allowed to choose a new parliament that can replace the constitution to abolish the presidential system and restore democracy. That is the most important priority.”
As far as economic problems are concerned, Prof. Uyangoda said there is “no guarantee” that a caretaker government or a newly elected government can solve them in the short term. “See what happened in Italy, Greece, Argentina, Lebanon or Zambia. Sri Lanka should also expect a period of political instability,” he said.