Protesters demanding the resignation of the Sri Lankan president refused to leave the presidential palace on Sunday., after they broke into the residence on Saturday forcing the president to flee and announce his resignation this week. The dramatic events of recent days are the culmination of a wave of protests on this island, located off the southern coast of India and plunged into an unprecedented economic and political crisis, which protesters attribute to mismanagement of the President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
In between the announced resignations of the president of Sri Lanka and the prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghein addition to those of several ministers this Sundaythe opposition seeks to weave alliances to form a new government. The United Nations warned of the possibility of a serious humanitarian crisis while the European Union called to guarantee a transition without violence in the island nation.
“Our fight is not over”
The capital of Sri Lanka woke up this Sunday with practically empty streets and closed shops, although many people still walked through the official residence of the president after spending the night. “I was glad when I found out that the president is going to resignThat’s why we’ve been here for months. Now we are playing cards at his house“he explained Prabath Sandurwanof 18 years.
“Our fight is not over. We will not give up until the president is really gone,” student leader Lahiru Weerasekara said. Hundreds of thousands of people remain gathered in Colombo to demand that Rajapaksa take responsibility for the shortages of medicine, food and fuel that threw a relatively prosperous country into chaos.
After storming the presidential palace, which dates back to the colonial era, the crowd has been roaming the ostentatious rooms since Saturday. Some jumped into the pool and went through Rajapaksa’s wardrobe and belongings. The security forces resorted to the use of tear gas and charged against demonstrators and some journalists covering the events were also injured. A source from the Colombo National Hospital, who requested anonymity, stated that they received 103 injured during the protests.
Resignation of several ministers
The Investment Promotion Minister, Dhammika Perera, was one of the members of the government to present his resignation this Sunday. “Sri Lanka should quickly identify and implement a solution that will enable it to achieve economic stability and address the needs of the people of this country,” Perera said in his resignation letter.
In addition to Perera, a casino tycoon appointed to the post just 16 days ago, the ministro de Transportes, Bandula Gunawardene, formally left the government. The Ministers of Tourism, Harin Fernanda, and Foreign Labor, Manusha Nanayyakaraannounced their readiness to resign after having moved from the opposition to the Rajapaksa government formed in May after the previous one fell due to protests.
Political analyst Aruna Kulatunga confirmed the departure of a fifth member of the Executive, Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amaraweera. These departures from the Executive are more of a political gesture, Kulatunga explained, since the prime minister announced his resignation on Saturday and when it became official the entire cabinet would be dissolved according to the local Constitution.
Sri Lankan opposition political parties held meetings this Sunday to agree on a new government. If Rajapaksa and the prime minister resign before a new executive is formed, Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena will take over as interim president, in accordance with the local constitution.
Uncertainty and food crisis
The United States on Sunday urged Sri Lankan leaders to act “quickly” to seek long-term solutions. The head of the United States diplomacy, Antony BlinkI affirm that Russia’s blockade of grains produced in Ukraine due to war “may have contributed” to the crisis.
The international community insists on the need for a transition without violence to prevent the country from descending into chaos in the midst of an economic crisis. The European Union He called on all parties in Sri Lanka to “cooperate and focus on a peaceful, democratic and orderly transition” in a statement on Sunday.
For her part, the neighbor Indiawhich has provided several millionaire loans to the country to alleviate the lack of fuel, stated that “is on the side of the people of Sri Lanka as they seek to realize their aspirations for prosperity and progress through democratic means”.
Sri Lanka has been experiencing massive protests for months due to the impact of one of the worst economic crises the country has had to face since its independence in 1948, derived from the reduction of foreign currency in international reserves and a large debt. The situation is such that 70 percent of Sri Lankan households were forced to reduce food consumption and one in two children needs some form of urgent assistance, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef).
Tension and discontent increased on the island at the end of Marchwhen the authorities imposed power outages of more than 13 hours. Since then, peaceful protests throughout the country calling for the resignation of the Sri Lankan Executive have become commonplace, while the authorities try to reach a rescue agreement with the IMFa situation that can add even more fuel to the fire.