Former Sri Lankan cricketer Sanath Jayasuriya said in an exclusive interview to India Today that he did not expect President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee the country amid protests against the unprecedented economic crisis.
“I never thought this would happen and we thought he would resign and stay in the country. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. He left the country this morning and went to Maldives,” he said.
“Sri Lankans have seen fuel, electricity, gas and health crisis in the last few months. People are not getting what they wanted. They have been absorbing all the pressure for a long time and people have taken to the streets in protest,” Jayasuriya Said, the protests have largely been peaceful.
#Sri Lanka crisis | ‘The people withheld anger for a long time; never thought #gotabaya Will run away,’ Sanath Jayasuriya (@sanath07), former SL cricketer.#5Live Live , @rahulkanwal pic.twitter.com/KSKXHRx8Kw
— India Today (@IndiaToday) 13 July 2022
Angered by power outages, lack of basic supplies and rising prices, protesters have long been demanding Rajapaksa’s resignation. But in recent days, protesters entered Rashtrapati Bhavan, set the PM residence on fire and forced President Rajapaksa to flee the country.
The former cricketer said that it is up to the Speaker and the political parties to form a stable government for a few months. He said that the international community will see that our country is stable, then only they will be interested in coming to Sri Lanka and helping.
Jayasuriya claimed, “Earlier, only India had given us $4 billion to come out of this crisis. But still we could not. We need help from other countries as well.”
#Specific , ‘Life has been hard’ #lankai, still #gotabaya Have not resigned,’ Sanath Jayasuriya (@sanath07), former SL cricketer.#5Live Live , @rahulkanwal pic.twitter.com/tyLg7Rmear
— India Today (@IndiaToday) 13 July 2022
Jayasuriya said, “The protesters asked the President and the Prime Minister to resign. At this time, no one has resigned. I think people want to see the resignations first. I hope that the Speaker and the political leaders together help Sri Lanka.” will do.” Crisis in the island nation.
emergency in sri lanka
Sri Lanka declared a state of emergency on Wednesday amid ongoing protests against the president and the prime minister. Leader Gotabaya Rajapaksa, 73, who promised to resign, has appointed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as acting president, hours after he fled the country.
Thousands of protesters waving Lankan flags violated the emergency and surrounded the PM’s office building. Police fired tear gas at protesters, who broke through a barricade and stormed the Prime Minister’s Office demanding his resignation.
Last week, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe said Sri Lanka is now a bankrupt country as it grapples with the worst economic crisis in decades.
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