Sri Lanka - Aragalaya 2022 Crisis
Colombo was rocked by massive protests caused by public dissatisfaction with the slow pace of the government's fight against the economic crisis. Sri Lanka faced a major political and economic crisis, considered the worst since gaining independence in 1948. The recession is attributed to ineffective government policies and foreign exchange shortages caused by a clampdown on tourism during the COVID-19 pandemic. It left the country unable to buy enough fuel, with people facing an acute scarcity of food and basic necessities, heating fuel, and gas. Many regions suffer from power outages.
Sri Lanka began to show signs of an incipient economic crisis since Nov. 2021 when authorities were forced to close the country's only oil refinery to avoid spending large amounts of foreign currency on imported crude oil. Over the last two years, Sri Lanka lost its international reserves due to the effects of the pandemic in reducing international tourism. Record numbers of inflation and food shortages began to suffocate citizens, and the government suspended the payment of the external debt in April.
Tension and discontent increased at the end of March, when authorities imposed power cuts of more than 13 hours, which led the population to take to the streets to demand the resignation of the government. The protests grew in scope, and hundreds of demonstrators settled in the vicinity of the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo to demand the resignation of the Rajapaksa clan. The most repeated slogan during the anti-government protests has been “Go Home Gota.” Soon after the prime minister's resignation, some cabinet ministers including the health minister also presented their resignations. On Monday, clashes between supporters and opponents of the government caused the hospitalization of 80 people. Authorities imposed a curfew to try to contain the situation.
The economic debacle triggered a serious political crisis. In early April, pressure on the street led to the resignation of all the ministers, although President Rajapaksa momentarily dodged the crisis by appointing a reduced Cabinet. Days later, the resignation of 42 parliamentarians from the ranks of the government coalition left the Government on the verge of losing its majority in the House of Representatives. Last week, the main opposition party, the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), presented two motions of censure against the president and his government.
Sri Lanka has been rocked by protests for several months, with the unrest driven by soaring inflation and shortages of food, fuel, and medicine. The country defaulted on its foreign debt in May 2022, and fuel rationing was introduced earlier this month, with armed troops deployed to filling stations. The economic crisis has been blamed partly on the Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting fall in tourism revenue for the island nation. However, Rajapaksa’s government has been fiercely condemned for its policies of lavish spending and careless tax cuts, while printing money to pay off foreign bonds.
In April 2022, a month-long protest in Colombo, calling on President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to resign, was attacked by pro-government mobs. Protesters retaliated swiftly, chasing down those who took part in the attacks, with videos and photos of stripped and beaten Rajapaksa supporters circulating on social media. Eight people died in the ensuing violence across the Sinhala-majority south of the island, with more than 100 properties torched, mostly those linked to the president’s party.
The Rajapaksas managed to push even those on the fence to the side of the protesters. They hold the unique record of being the most universally despised government in Sri Lanka’s history: despised by Tamils because of the genocidal attacks during the war and continuing oppression; despised by Muslims for enacting discriminatory policies and engineering ethnic riots against them; and finally, despised by the Sinhalese for bringing economic disaster upon them.
The president’s brother, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, resigned in the aftermath, fleeing to a navy camp, a notorious torture site, in the Tamil-majority northeast. He was replaced by another old face – the United National Party’s (UNP) Ranil Wickremesinghe, who has occupied the premiership on no fewer than five previous occasions but has never seen out a full term. Wickremesinghe himself has been accused of turning a blind eye to corruption and scuttling opportunities for addressing the decades-old ethnic conflict during his prior stints.
Mile long lines at many gas stations in Colombo were mostly formed by tuktuks (three-wheeled auto rickshaw serving as taxi). People wait for several days, in some cases up to five days, for the opportunity to refuel. Tuktuk owners from time to time literally live and sleep in their rickshaws. Lanka Indian Oil Company, the only private corporation running gas stations in Sri Lanka, announced a two-day halt in supply operations on Friday, ahead of the planned protests and resumed fuel supplies to its filling stations on Sunday 10 July 2022.
On 09 July 2022 Disgruntled Sri Lankans broke through to the presidential residence, and set fire to the house of the country's prime minister, Ranila Wickremesinghe. The condition of the head of the Cabinet was not reported. A crowd believed to number around 100,000 descended on the presidential palace, as officials told reporters that the president had been “escorted to safety.” Thousands of protesters in Sri Lanka breached the barriers around the presidential residence, focring their way into the building. Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has fled the residence. The storming of the residence came after protesters staged a major demonstration in Colombo, demanding the president's resignation, as they blame Rajapaksa and his family for the deteriorating economic situation. At least 33 demonstrators were hospitalized at the Colombo National Hospital, including two people in a critical state. With his whereabouts unknown, the demonstrators forced their way into the building, where they raided its kitchen and swam in his private pool.
On 09 July 2022 Wickremesinghe called an emergency meeting of party leaders amid widespread protests in the country. In the afternoon, he agreed to the demand to resign, declaring his readiness to leave his post. "Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has told the Party Leaders that he is willing to resign as Prime Minister and make way for an all-Party Government to take over. He says he is taking this decision in view of the fact that island-wide fuel distribution is due to recommence this week, the World Food Program Director is due to visit the country this week and the Debt Sustainability report for the IMF is due to be finalised shortly."
Parliamentarians such as Ranjith Maddumabandara and Wimal Weerawansa agreed to form a national unity government; however the decision on the name of who will lead that Administration has complicated the agreement. They did not agree on who would lead the unity government with two names proposed by the current opposition leader Sajith Premadasa and others from the 'independent group' of parliamentarians who split from President Rajapaksa's party.
Sri Lankan parliament speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana had been assigned to become the country's interim president by the political party leaders at an emergency meeting called for the resignation of the incumbent prime minister and president, leader of Sri Lanka Muslim Congress party Rauff Hakeem said. Other accounts report that Parliament will likely choose a caretaker president, and Speaker Abeywardena will take over as prime minister. Abeywardana called on the country's president and prime minister to step down according to an overwhelming request of the political parties.
Sri Lanka Parliament Speaker Mahinda Tapa Abeywardena retracted his earlier statement that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had fled the country. Abeywardena was quoted by BBC as saying that the president had fled. However, while talking with Indian news agency ANI, he said that he made a 'mistake' in his earlier statement.
Sri Lankan parliament speaker said that the parliament will elect new President of Sri Lanka on July 20. "Nominations for the next president will be presented to parliament on 19 July. On 20 July parliament will vote to elect a new president," Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena said in a statement. "During the party leaders' meeting held today, it was agreed that this was essential to ensure a new all-party government is in place in accordance with the Constitution and to take forward essential services." The parliament will reconvene on July 15.
Sri Lanka's parliament will vote on a new president Wednesday, July 20, the speaker's office said, following the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa after he was driven out of the country. Former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in as acting president on 15 July 2022. The resignation of Sri Lanka’s president was accepted, the crisis-hit country's parliamentary speaker announced, after he fled the country earlier this week and sent notification from Singapore that he was stepping down. The formal declaration makes Gotabaya Rajapaksa -- once known as 'The Terminator' for his ruthless crushing of Tamil rebels -- the first Sri Lankan head of state to resign since it adopted an executive presidency in 1978.
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