COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – Sri Lanka plunged into political chaos on Wednesday, as the unpopular president fled the country and protesters flooded the interim leader’s offices, making it unclear who was in charge. how long the right or power will last.
Massive demonstrations and tear gas filled the streets of the capital Colombo, and late into the night, protesters clashed with police outside Parliament, the only government compound not yet occupied. The Sri Lanka Bar Association, an organization that supports the protest movement, warned of “lawlessness and anarchy”.
Months of peaceful protests and power struggles have kept the country no closer to addressing the root cause of popular rage: a failing economy that has led to fuel shortages, wage prices rising realism and widespread misery.
It is also unclear whether President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s departure will be a lasting step towards the protesters’ goal to break his family’s grip on power.
The day began with a rumor: Mr. Rajapaksa had left the island nation before dawn on a military plane for the Maldives. Over the weekend, tens of thousands – if not hundreds of thousands – of protesters stormed his office and residence, and he went into hiding.
“The thieves are on the run,” said Sanjayra Perera, a university librarian who was among thousands of protesters who arrived in Colombo with her two young children.
For the protesters, it felt like victory, confirming claims by government officials that both the president and the prime minister were equally unpopular, Ranil Wickremesinghe, will resign. But tensions rise amid confusion over Mr Rajapaksa’s condition and who is responsible.
As time went on, it was found that the old guard was trying to cling to power. Mr. Rajapaksa passed away but did not resign. His ally Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, the speaker of parliament, read a statement on behalf of the president on behalf of the president, saying that Mr Rajapaksa had appointed Mr Wickremesinghe as acting president “while the president was abroad”.
Understand what’s happening in Sri Lanka
A president is overthrown. Sri Lanka fall into a deep crisis When the protesters, pushing for President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to resign, stormed into his residence, pushing him to flee the country. Here’s what to know:
Even after fleeing, Mr. Rajapaksa, 73, has not committed to ending his presidency. Instead, he would leave as the caretaker of someone they despised, who was also supposed to be leaving office.
A large crowd marched into Mr Wickremesinghe’s office, demanding his resignation. After an impasse involving security forces firing tear gas bullets repeatedly, protesters overran the complex.
“The whole country rejected him,” said Shameen Opanayke, a 22-year-old who joined his sisters and mother at the Colombo protest, of the president.
As for the acting chairman, Mr. Wickremesinghe, he said “nobody wants him.”
In a televised address, Mr Wickremesinghe declared a state of emergency and ordered security forces to retake the government buildings that had been demolished.
“We have to remove this country from this fascist threat,” he said, referring to elements among the protesters.
But as an indication of the depth of the confusion, it is unclear whether the sheriffs will follow his orders. There was little indication of an attempt to clear roads or retake buildings, and the generals made no mention of the presidency or the state of emergency in their own televised statements to the nation that followed.
The crisis comes at a time when Sri Lanka needs to build stability to secure much-needed international financial help. The country has run out of foreign currency reserves, short of money for important imports. The country has defaulted on its huge foreign debt and has exhausted its immediate sources of support.
In recent months, it has been mainly powered by aid from partners like India, which has raised around $4 billion. But a government crisis, with its disputed leadership and protest-run streets, makes diplomatic work – including negotiations with organizations like the International Monetary Fund to restructure. debt structure of the country – almost impossible.
Some of Mr Wickremesinghe’s allies have made the case that he stayed only to avoid a total collapse of the government. Sri Lankan law stipulates that the resignation of a prime minister not only dissolves the cabinet of ministers, but also disbands the ministerial secretaries, the highest-ranking officials.
Eran Wickramaratne, an opposition lawmaker, said whoever took power in the government would find it difficult and would eventually need to call elections for a new mandate, so that the protest movement and the political process could work. convergence opportunity. However, the immediate task is to secure supplies of fuel, food and medicine for the next six months, to give breathing room for mid- and long-term adjustments to economic policies.
“The focus needs to be on reducing the burden that everyone is facing immediately,” he said.
Rajapaksa’s family has dominated Sri Lankan politics for nearly two decades, countered by persistent claims of corruption. The current president’s brother, Mahinda Rajapaksa, who is also the president, ended the country’s long civil war in 2009 through the brutal use of force, leading to accusations of severe human rights abuses. important.
After Gotabaya Rajapaksa was elected president in 2019, he became prime minister of Mahinda – his third time holding that post – and two other brothers headed government ministries. The president’s older brothers have all resigned in recent months.
Opposition leaders on Wednesday made it clear they would not accept Mr Wickremesinghe, 73, as acting president, pointing out that he has no popular support or congressional support. They want to move quickly to the constitutional succession process in the event of a president’s resignation: Parliament holds a vote on the top job among lawmakers.
Mr Wickremesinghe has served as prime minister multiple times over the past three decades, but his return to the post in May, after protests forced Mahinda Rajapaksa’s removal, was seen as a near political comeback like magic.
Just three years ago, he lost the support of his party’s majority in a bitter split and what remained of the party failed to win even a single seat in the 2020 parliamentary elections. Mr. Wickremesignhe found a backdoor into Parliament by occupying one of two dozen appointed and unelected seats.
President Rajapaksa has appointed him prime minister with the backing of his party, which has a majority in the National Assembly, in the hope that his experience with international donors can aid recovery. economy and ease the pressure on his government.
“A member of Parliament with one seat was appointed prime minister, now that person is appointed acting President,” Sajith Premadasa, the opposition leader, said on Twitter. “This is the Rajapaksa style of democracy. It’s a joke. It is a tragedy.”
