Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister, Rajapaksa has resigned from his position amid mass protests at the government’s handling of a deepening economic crisis.
Mr. Rajapaksa, 76, sent his resignation letter to his younger brother, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, saying he hoped it would help resolve the crisis, but the move is highly unlikely to satisfy government opponents while the latter remains in power.
The move came as the island was placed under curfew over violent clashes between Rajapaksa supporters and anti-government protesters in Colombo (Sri Lanka’s capital). As a result, three people were killed, including a ruling party’s Member of Parliament, and more than 150 are injured in violence in the capital.
There have been protests over soaring prices and power cuts since last month (April 2022). The island nation is facing its worst economic crisis since gaining independence from Britain in 1948.
Earlier in the day, the country’s Police were deployed following violence outside the President and Prime Minister’s offices in Colombo. As though that was not enough, the Police also fired tear gas and water cannon at hundreds of ruling party supporters after they breached the Police lines and attacked anti-government protesters using sticks and poles. After pulling down tents of protesters outside the PM’s Temple Trees residence, they then stormed the nearby “Gota go home” camp on the promenade. According to one witness’s account, “We were hit, the media were hit, women and children were hit”.
Protesters’ Retaliation over High Cost of Living
Just outside the capital, the Police said a Member of Parliament from the governing party was found dead after he opened fire on protesters blocking his car. Two others also died, officials disclosed. According to reports, later in the day, several properties of the ruling party MPs and local government officials were attacked, with some set on fire.
Following the eruption of demonstrations in early April, protesters camped noisily but peacefully outside President Rajapaksa’s office at Galle Face Green, demanding that the President should quit his job. The reason fueling protesters’ call is blamed on the high cost of living which reports disclosed that it became unaffordable. Sri Lanka’s foreign currency reserves have virtually run dry, and it can no longer afford essential items including food, medicines and fuel.
A Blame on COVID-19
The government has requested emergency financial help. It blamed the country’s economic crisis on the Coronavirus pandemic, which to an extent, is reported to have killed off Sri Lanka’s tourist trade (one of the country’s biggest foreign currency earners). However, many experts intimated that the economic mismanagement is to be blamed.
The Prime Minister in his letter noted that his resignation is intended to clear the way for an “all-party government to guide the country out of the current economic crisis”. But opposition parties have kicked against the “all-party” decision, and also called on the President to quit.
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