Sri Lankans participate in a protest demanding president Gotabaya Rajapaksa resign, before the beginning of curfew in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Saturday (AP)Sri Lanka Economic Crisis Live Updates: A new Sri Lankan Cabinet is expected to be sworn in on Monday after all 26 Ministers resigned with immediate effect late on Sunday night. Speaking to reporters, the Education Minister and Leader of the House, Dinesh Gunawardena, said the Cabinet Ministers, including the Sports Minister and the President’s nephew, Namal Rajapaksa, handed over their resignations to Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. He proffered no reason for the mass resignation.
The 36-hour curfew, which was imposed amid anti-government protests across the country over its worst economic crisis, was lifted on Monday morning. However, the country is still under the effect of a state of emergency, which was declared after an angry mob surrounded the private residence of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on March 31.
On Sunday, over 600 people were arrested in Sri Lanka’s Western Province for violating the curfew and trying to stage an anti-government rally. The enraged public has been blaming the Rajapaksa family for the ongoing crisis, with the two brothers at the helm as Prime Minister and President.
A Sri Lankan man shouts anti government slogans during a protest outside Sri Lankan president's private residence on the outskirts of Colombo, Sri Lanka, Thursday, March 31, 2022. (AP)
The 36-hour curfew, which was imposed amid anti-government protests across the country over its worst economic crisis, was lifted on Monday morning.
However, the country is still under the effect of a state of emergency, which was declared after an angry mob surrounded the private residence of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on March 31.
Sajith Premadasa, Leader of Opposition in Sri Lanka, stated the country is calling for a "wholesale change".
"What we ask for is a pathbreaking wholesale change that brings about relief to the country, not relief to politicians...not a game of musical chairs where politicians exchange their positions," he was quoted as saying.
With all 26 Ministers resigning from the Sri Lankan Cabinet on Sunday evening, Sajith Premadasa, Leader of Opposition in Sri Lanka called the move "melodrama".
"It's a melodrama that is being enacted to dupe the people of our country. It's not a genuine effort towards bringing some sort of relief to the people of our country. It's an exercise in fooling the people," Premadasa was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
The government ramped up security in Colombo as scores of Sri Lankans and Opposition leaders defied curfew to protest the rising inflation and unemployment in the country.
AP Photos
Government coalition parties are demanding that a caretaker Cabinet be appointed to pull the country out of the crisis. The resignation of the Cabinet appears to be an effort to pacify the people, who are protesting countrywide to hold the president and the entire Rajapaksa family responsible for the economic meltdown in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka's political power is concentrated in the Rajapaksa family. In addition to brothers being president and prime minister, two other brothers are ministers of finance and irrigation. Namal was also a Cabinet minister until he resigned.
A Sri Lankan couple with their infant joins an anti-government protest during a curfew in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Sunday, April 3, 2022. (AP)
AP Photos
Following the resignation of all 26 Ministers, a news Cabinet is expected to be sworn in on Monday, as Sri Lanka continues to reel under its worst economic crisis.
Government coalition parties are demanding that a caretaker Cabinet be appointed to pull the country out of the crisis.
Widespread public protests were seen throughout Sunday evening in spite of the imposition of curfew which is due to end on Monday morning. The enraged public has been demanding the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. The government declared a state of emergency after an angry mob surrounded the private residence of Rajapaksa on March 31.
Sri Lanka's Cabinet of Ministers resigned with immediate effect late on Sunday night, as the country experiences its worst economic crisis of all time. Speaking to reporters, Education Minister and Leader of the House, Dinesh Gunawardena said the Cabinet Ministers handed over their resignations to Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.
He proffered no reason for the mass resignation. However, political experts here said the ministers came under intense pressure from the public over the government's alleged "mishandling" of the economic crisis, triggered by the shortage in the foreign exchange reserve.
Protesters in the Sri Lanka's largest city Colombo held numerous small, peaceful demonstrations over a severe economic crisis on Sunday, defying a nationwide curfew, while police used tear gas to disperse student protesters in the central city of Kandy. A senior police official said officers used tear gas and water cannons to stop a protest of university students in Kandy.
"There were about 750 participants but no arrests were made," said Nihal Thalduwa, a police spokesman. Thalduwa said over 600 people who were arrested in the Western Province on Saturday night for breaking curfew orders were released on bail given by police and charges will be filed against them later.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa declared a state of emergency on Friday as the Indian Ocean island nation grapples with rising prices, shortages of essentials and rolling power cuts. (Reuters)
A Sri Lankan government official denied news reports that Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa may step down as early as Sunday in an administration revamp as public anger builds against their economic policies.
“The rumors to the effect that the prime minister is going to resign have no basis to it,” Information Department Director-General Mohan Samaranayake said by phone.
The Daily Mirror first reported on the possible resignations of the prime minister as well as Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa and said their brother President Gotabaya Rajapaksa plans to form an interim government including members of the current opposition. A proposal has been submitted by the ruling coalition to ensure political stability, the newspaper added. Read more
A 53-year-old man, who was protesting outside the private residence of Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa over the long power cuts in the country due to the ongoing economic crisis, got electrocuted after he climbed a electricity pole, police said on Sunday.
The incident happened on Sunday afternoon after the man in an inebriated condition climbed the electricity pole to protest the ongoing long power cuts in the nation and got electrocuted. "He had climbed an electricity pole to protest when got electrocuted," a senior police officer said. (PTI)
The Sri Lankan government on Sunday lifted the ban it had imposed on social media platforms such as WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram after declaring a nationwide public emergency and effecting a 36-hour curfew ahead of a planned anti-government rally over the worst economic crisis in the island nation.
The services of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, TokTok, Snapchat, WhatsApp, Viber, Telegram, and Facebook Messenger were restored after 15 hours, according to an official. The services had been fully or partially blocked.
The move was aimed at preventing masses from gathering in Colombo to protest the government's failure to provide relief to the public suffering from shortages of food, essentials, fuel and medicine amidst hours-long power cuts, the Colombo Page newspaper reported. (PTI)
Police fired tear gas at hundreds of protesting students in central Sri Lanka on Sunday, a federal lawmaker said, as soldiers manned checkpoints in the capital to enforce a curfew imposed to curb public outrage triggered by an economic crisis.
Lakshman Kiriella, MP from the second-largest city, Kandy, said police used tear gas to scatter students protesting against the government near the University of Peradeniya.
"These students have come out in defiance of the curfew and police have fired tear gas to disperse them," said Kiriella, from the opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya party. The university is on the outskirts of Kandy, where the students had been held back by police, he said.
Police officials in Kandy did not respond to calls from Reuters seeking comment.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa declared a state of emergency on Friday as the Indian Ocean island nation grapples with rising prices, shortages of essentials and rolling power cuts. On Saturday, the government implemented a countrywide curfew as protests turned violent. It is to run until till 6 a.m. (0030 GMT) on Monday. (Reuters)
Air India on Sunday said it will reduce its India-Sri Lanka services from 16 flights per week currently to 13 flights per week from April 9 due to poor demand.
Sri Lanka is currently experiencing its worst economic crisis in history. With long lines for fuel, cooking gas, essentials in short supply and long hours of power cuts, the public has been suffering for weeks."Currently AI is operating 16 flights a week -- daily flights from Delhi and nine flights a week from Chennai," an Air India spokesperson told PTI.In the new schedule, AI will be operating a total of 13 flights per week, the spokesperson noted. In the new schedule, while the frequency from Chennai will remain untouched, flights from Delhi will reduce from seven to four per week, the spokesperson said.
"Four flights from Delhi instead of seven effective April 9 due to poor loads," the spokesperson noted.AI 283 on the Delhi-Colombo sector will now operate on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays from April 8 to May 30. AI 284 on the Colombo-Delhi sector will operate on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from April 9 to May 31. (PTI)
Over 600 people were arrested in Sri Lanka's Western Province on Sunday for violating a 36-hour nationwide curfew and trying to stage an anti-government rally to protest the country's worst economic crisis.
Opposition lawmakers, led by their leader Sajith Premadasa, had set off on a march towards the iconic Independence Square in Colombo, defying a weekend curfew imposed by the government on Saturday, ahead of the planned protest for Sunday.
“We are protesting the government's abuse of the public security ordinance to deny the public's right to protest,” Premadasa said.
The protest was organised by social media activists against the ongoing economic crisis and hardships heaped on people due to shortages of essentials. A total of 664 people were arrested in the Western Province on Sunday. A countrywide curfew was declared ahead of an “Arab Spring” style protest scheduled to be staged on Sunday, Colombo Gazette reported. (PTI)
Opposition lawmakers in Sri Lanka on Sunday marched in the capital, Colombo, protesting against the president's move to impose a curfew and state of emergency amid a worsening economic crisis.
Internet users in most of Sri Lanka were also unable to access Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, WhatsApp and other social media platforms on Sunday, after they had been used to organize demonstrations calling for President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to resign, saying he is responsible for the country's economic woes.
Netblocks, a global internet monitor, confirmed that network data collected from over 100 vantage points across Sri Lanka showed the restrictions coming into effect across multiple providers from midnight. (AP)
Sri Lanka’s Minister of Youth and Sports Namal Rajapaksa said he was opposed to the social media blackout imposed in the country. "I will never condone the blocking of social media. The availability of VPN, just like I’m using now, makes such bans completely useless," he tweeted.
Sri Lanka has blocked access to many social media platforms in an attempt to prevent further protests blaming the government for the worsening economic crisis. Internet users in most parts of Sri Lanka were unable to access Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, WhatsApp and other social media platforms on Sunday.
Netblocks, a global internet monitor, confirmed that network data collected from over 100 vantage points across Sri Lanka showed the restrictions coming into effect across multiple providers from midnight. Sri Lanka is under a nationwide curfew from Saturday night until Monday morning after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa declared a state of emergency.
Social media platforms had been used to call for protests demanding the president's resignation, saying he is responsible for the economic crisis. (AP)
Sri Lanka's government imposed a weekend curfew on Saturday even as hundreds of lawyers urged President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to revoke a state of emergency to ensure that freedom of speech and peaceful assembly are respected under the country's economic crisis.
"Under the powers given to the president, curfew has been imposed countrywide from 6 p.m. (1230 GMT) on Saturday to 6 a.m. (0030 GMT) on Monday," the government's information department said in a statement.Rajapaksa on Friday invoked stringent laws to tackle growing unrest in the unprecedented crisis. (Reuters)