A person holds a placard demanding Sri Lanka's President Gotabaya Rajapaksa resign, amid the country's economic crisis, during a protest near to a road leading to the parliament building in Colombo, Sri Lanka. (Reuters)Sri Lanka Crisis Live News Updates: Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa late Tuesday night revoked the state of Emergency with immediate effect on his island nation. In a gazette notification number 2274/10, the President said he has withdrawn the Emergency rule ordinance which gave security forces sweeping powers to curb any disturbance in the country.
Despite public anger against the Rajapaksa family, President Gotabaya will not resign, Chief Government Whip and Highways Minister Johnston Fernando asserted Wednesday. “May I remind you that 6.9 million people voted for the President. As a government, we are clearly saying the president will not resign under any circumstances. We will face this,” he said.
President Rajapaksa had declared an Emergency on April 1 amid a spate of protests over the worst economic crisis in the country, with thousands gathering outside the President’s private residence, demanding his resignation.
On Tuesday, the ruling coalition appeared to have lost its majority in the 225 member Parliament with over 40 MPs declaring themselves independent.
People shout slogans against Sri Lanka's President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and demand that Rajapaksa family politicians step down, during a protest amid the country's economic crisis, on a main road in Colombo, Sri Lanka, April 4, 2022. (Reuters)
Dozens of doctors, some in their blue scrubs, Wednesday stood in protest opposite the national hospital in the commercial capital, Colombo. Some held a banner saying: "Strengthen people's right to live. Declare a health emergency."
Malaka Samararathna, who works at the state-run Apeksha Hospital which treats tens of thousands of cancer patients from across the country every year, said not only drugs but even chemicals used in testing are running short.
Vasan Ratnasingam, a spokesperson of the Government Medical Officers' Association that represents over 16,000 doctors nationwide, said at least one vital drug was not available at all in his Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children.
"And other than that, 102 essential drugs are in shortage. Some of those drugs are frequently used, such as for respiratory tract infections, for urinary tract infections," he said, warning doctors would have to stop routine treatments and surgeries if immediate action was not taken. (Reuters)
Despite public anger against the Rajapaksa family, President Gotabaya will not resign, Chief Government Whip and Highways Minister Johnston Fernando asserted Wednesday. “May I remind you that 6.9 million people voted for the President. As a government, we are clearly saying the president will not resign under any circumstances. We will face this,” he was quoted as saying by Reuters.
Sri Lanka's tourism sector, one of the largest contributors to the country's economy, which had just begun to revive post the coronavirus pandemic, has been hit hard by the economic crisis.
Kevin, a General Manager of Colombo Court Hotel told news agency ANI: "One main big reason is the current ongoing power cuts, hike in fuel prices and lack of essential items has been a big hit for us hoteliers as we cannot survive without electricity. We have set up our own power banks because it is the main thing that tourists look for."
On Tuesday, members of the hotel association and staff protested in huge numbers. "We're here to represent the many stakeholders in the tourism industry who've been affected. We need to save tourism industry in the country," said Gerard Medina, Chairman, Chefs Guild of Sri Lanka.
Sri Lankan doctors said they will hold a street protest in the commercial capital Colombo on Wednesday as hospitals run out of essential drugs because of the country's worst economic crisis in decades.
The Government Medical Officers' Association, which represents over 16,000 doctors nationwide, said medics from across Colombo would gather at the National Hospital of Sri Lanka and protest "against the serious shortage of drugs".
Malaka Samararathna, who works at the state-run Apeksha Hospital which treats tens of thousands of cancer patients from across the country every year, said not only drugs but even chemicals used in testing are running short.
"The patients who are on chemotherapy, we have to monitor them carefully. Daily we have to monitor these investigations," Samararathna said. "So, if we can't do it, we can't decide the way forward. We can't decide on the proper management. Sometimes our chemotherapy drugs are causing severe side effects, so the only way we have to find it is by doing these investigations."
He said cancer drugs like Filgrastim and Cytarabine, as well as some antibiotics, were in short supply.
Rajapaksa's various moves - including securing financial support from India and China - have failed to end the shortages or the spontaneous street protests across the country. (Reuters)
With the Indian Parliament in session, Lok Sabha MP Ritesh Pandey Wednesday submitted an adjournment notice in the Lower House, demanding discussion over the Sri Lanka crisis.
"The economic crisis roiling Sri Lanka has left our neighbour with shortages of food, fuel, electricity, and even paper to conduct examinations. This crisis has triggered hunger and desperation across the island nation, forcing many to flee to South Indian shores. Although the Indian government has extended a $2.5bn line of credit as well as $500 million in fuel shipments, more needs to be done to tackle the mammoth task of stabilising the Sri Lankan economy in the short- and long-run as well as tackling short- and long-run economic migration. We must also keep in mind that climate change will only trigger disasters both natural and economic of unprecedented proportions – and this latest crisis is only the beginning," Pandey said in his notice.
The Rajapaksa family, whose members include Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister and President, hails from Hambantota district in the south. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his brothers Chamal, PM Mahinda, and Basil are third-generation politicians, while the fourth generation is represented by Mahinda and Chamal’s sons Namal, Yositha and Shashindra.
In South Asia, no other political dynasty has been as confidently nepotistic. During Mahinda Rajapaksa’s second term as President from 2010-15, there were said to be more than 40 Rajapaksa family members in government posts, apart from the cabinet. Many of them faced enquiries for financial fraud after Mahinda’s government was voted out. Basil, who is also a US citizen, was arrested, and his wife and eldest daughter were questioned. Read our Explainer here
With the government losing its majority in Parliament, protesters across Sri Lanka demanded the Rajapaksa family step down as the country faces its worst economic crisis.
The economic ruin appears to have brought to an abrupt end the ruling Rajapaksa family’s total domination of Sri Lanka, but the country finds itself in the middle of a peculiar political crisis today: the Opposition seems almost diffident about testing what is left of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa’s support in Parliament.
With the government in minority in Parliament, there are no moves yet to get the government to prove its majority on the floor of the House, and the Prime Minister and the President have given no indication that they might step down even as calls for them to go grow louder on the streets.
While the combined opposition may not have the required numbers to form a government, the only possible challenger indicated in Parliament on Tuesday that he would play a long game. Leader of Opposition Sajith Premadasa, son of former President Ranasinghe Premadasa and head of Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) or United People’s Power, demanded that the executive presidency be scrapped immediately. Read more
"I, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, President of the Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, hereby revoke the gazette with effect from midnight on 05 April 2022," a gazette issued late Tuesday night said, referring to the previous order.
With at least 41 lawmakers walking out of the ruling coalition, the government is in minority in Parliament. The next possible step, politically, could include the appointment of a new Prime Minister replacing the President's elder brother, Mahinda Rajapaksa, or snap parliamentary elections way ahead of a scheduled vote in 2025.
Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa late Tuesday night revoked the state of emergency he had declared on April 1 with immediate effect in his island nation.
In a gazette notification no 2274/10 issued on Tuesday night, the president said he has withdrawn the emergency rule ordinance which gave security forces sweeping powers to curb any disturbance in the country.
The revocation of the gazette assumes significance as the ruling coalition appeared to have lost its majority in the 225 member Parliament with over 40 MPs declaring independence from the ruling coalition. The emergency approval needs to be ratified in the assembly after 2 weeks of it coming into effect. (PTI)
Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa declared an Emergency on April 1 as thousands of people came out on the streets to protest the crippling power cuts and shortages of essential commodities caused by the country’s economic meltdown. This is the second time within a year that Rajapaksa has resorted to this measure — he declared an Emergency on August 30 last year to deal with hoarding of essential commodities when the economic crisis had begun to manifest itself in all its severity, but lifted it within a few weeks.
Before Rajapaksa, President Maithripala Sirisena had declared an Emergency in March 2018 to contain anti-Muslim violence in some parts of the country that led to the deaths of two people, acts of arson, and damage to property. And before that, Sri Lanka was under a near continuous state of Emergency for 27 years — from the anti-Tamil riots of July 1983 to August 2011 — with brief respites in 1989 and 2001.
Emergency was first imposed in 1958 after Sri Lanka embraced the Sinhala Only language policy, and off and on from 1971 onward, when the left-wing Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna mounted its first insurrection. Explained by Nirupama Subramanian
Sri Lanka has decided to temporarily close its embassies in Oslo (Norway) and Baghdad (Iraq) and its Consulate General in Sydney, Australia with effect from April 30. According to a government statement, the decision was taken following 'careful deliberation.' The government stated that it is 'part of a general restructuring of Sri Lanka's diplomatic representationa overseas, undertaken by the Foreign Ministry in the context of the current economic situation and foreign currency constraints faced by the country.'
Sri Lankan shares broke their six-day losing streak on Tuesday, as President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's ruling coalition lost its majority in parliament amid growing unrest over the country's worst economic crisis in decades. At the close of trade, the CSE All-Share index settled 5.99% higher at 8,738.08 points.
The Rajapaksa government was left in a minority in parliament on Tuesday, after at least 41 Sri Lankan lawmakers walked out of the ruling coalition.
The debt-laden country currently faces shortages of food, fuel and medicines and prolonged power cuts as it struggles to pay for imports of fuel and other goods due to a scarcity of foreign exchange. The equity market turnover was 1.14 billion rupees ($3.86 million) on Tuesday, compared with 1.97 billion rupees in the previous session. (Reuters)
The ruling coalition, which had won 150 seats in the 2020 general elections and went on to increase its numbers through defections from the Opposition, on Tuesday appeared to lose the support of at least 41 MPs. These included members of former president Sirisena's Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and others from the 11 coalition partners.
It now appears to have 109 seats, five less than the 113 seats required for a simple majority in the 225-member Parliament.
The government, however, claimed that it commands the simple majority. (PTI)
Names of the 41 lawmakers to leave the coalition were announced Tuesday by party leaders in Parliament. They have now become independent members, leaving Rajapaksa's government with fewer than the 113 members needed to maintain a majority in the 225-member house.
There has been no vote count yet, although Rajapaksa's minority government could find decision-making more challenging. Independent parliamentarians, however, could continue to support government proposals in the house.
"There are endless shortages of essentials including fuel and cooking gas. Hospitals are on the verge of closing because there are no medicines," Maithripala Sirisena, leader of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party that withdrew its support for Rajapaksa's coalition, told Parliament. "At such a time our party is on the side of the people."
Sirisena, together with other lawmakers, called on President Rajapaksa and his elder brother, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, to present a clear plan to find a resolution for Sri Lanka's financial mess.
But Opposition parties - reflecting the mood of a wave of protests sweeping the country of 22 million people - urged the president and prime minister to step down. (Reuters)
Protests continued across the country Monday night, including at the Independence Square in Colombo and outside the office of President Rajapaksa amid the ongoing crisis in Sri Lanka.
The newly-appointed Finance Minister Ali Sabry, who had replaced the President's brother, Basil Rajapaksa, tendered his resignation stating that after much deliberation, “I am now of the view, for your Excellency to make suitable interim arrangement to navigate this unprecedented crisis, fresh and proactive and unconventional steps need to be taken, including the appointment of a new Finance Minister."
He added that when he resigned as Minister of Justice on April 3, it was not his intention to take up another post.
Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's ruling coalition lost its majority in parliament on Tuesday after at least 41 lawmakers walked out of the alliance amid growing unrest over an economic crisis, according to parliamentary proceedings.
"Our party is on the side of the people," said Maithripala Sirisena, leader of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party which withdrew its support for Rajapaksa's coalition.
The shift left Rajapaksa with a minority government, which could make decision making more challenging, although independent lawmakers can still continue to support government proposals. (Reuters)
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Tuesday asserted that he won’t resign from his position while speaking to senior party members. He, however, said that he's ready to hand over the government to whoever proves the majority of 113 seats in Parliament, news agency ANI reported.
"Sri Lanka's condition is very worrisome. India is on that path. We have to handle it otherwise our condition will be worse than Sri Lanka. Mamata Banerjee has also said to call for an all-party meeting under PM Modi's leadership," Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut was quoted as saying by ANI.