Graffiti written by anti-government factions is pictured on a vehicle, at a house belonging to the former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa's family in Weeraketiya, Sri Lanka, May 11, 2022. (Reuters)Sri Lanka protests Live: A Sri Lankan court Thursday issued a travel ban on erstwhile prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, his son Namal Rajapaksa and 15 others. Mahinda is currently under protection at the Trincomalee naval base. The Fort Magistrate’s Court barred them from travelling overseas due to the investigations taking place on the attacks on the GotaGoGama and MynaGoGama peaceful protest sites on Monday, Reuters quoted media reports as saying.
Former PM, Ranil Wickremesinghe, who has just one seat in the 225-member Parliament, could become the next premier, news agency PTI said quoting media reports. United National Party (UNP) leader held talks with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Wednesday and is expected to meet him again on Thursday, the Colombo Page newspaper reported. Members of the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), a section of the main Opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) and several other parties have expressed their support to show a majority for Wickremesinghe in Parliament, according to sources cited by the newspaper.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has announced that he will appoint a new PM and Cabinet this week. He has also stated that steps will be taken to amend the Constitution to empower Parliament. He also said, “Calls from various factions for the abolition of the executive presidency will be considered.”
Vehicles of Sri Lanka's ruling party supporters are seen in a lake after being pushed into the water during a clash of pro and anti-government demonstrators near the Prime Minister's official residence in Colombo, Sri Lanka, May 10, 2022. (Reuters)
A Sri Lankan court on Thursday imposed a travel ban on former prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, his son Namal Rajapaksa and 15 others in view of investigations against them for the deadly attack on anti-government protesters in Colombo this week.
The Fort Magistrate's Court barred them from traveling overseas due to the investigations taking place on the attacks on the GotaGoGama and MynaGoGama peaceful protest sites on Monday, News 1st website reported.
The order was also imposed on parliamentarians Johnston Fernando, Pavithra Wanniarachchi, Sanjeewa Edirimanne, Kanchana Jayaratne, Rohitha Abeygunawardena, C. B. Ratnayake, Sampath Athukorala, Renuka Perera, Sanath Nishantha, Senior DIG Deshabandu Thennakoon among others. (Reuters)
Sri Lanka's former prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who has just one seat in the 225-member Parliament, could become the next premier, media reports said on Thursday, amidst the worst economic crisis in the debt-ridden island nation.
The 73-year-old United National Party (UNP) leader held talks with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Wednesday and is expected to meet him again on Thursday, the Colombo Page newspaper reported.
According to political sources, members of the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), a section of the main Opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) and several other parties have expressed their support to show majority for Wickremesinghe in Parliament, it said.
The report said that Wickremesinghe will be sworn in as the new prime minister on Thursday or Friday.
UNP chairman Vajira Abeywardena has said that Wickremesinghe will be able to get a majority in Parliament after being sworn in as the new prime minister, replacing Mahinda Rajapaksa, who resigned on Monday. (PTI)
This Bloomberg report analyses what could happen next in Sri Lanka after the ouster of PM Mahinda Rajapaksa.
For a President to be impeached, first a resolution must be passed by two-thirds of parliament explaining why a president is unfit for office, then it must be investigated by the Supreme Court, and then if judges agree with th
The President could instead form a unity government with the Opposition.
He can also dissolve the Parliament and hold new elections. The constitution doesn’t allow the president to dissolve parliament until midway through its five-year term, which isn’t until February 2023. But it does allow the parliament to request a dissolution before then by passing a resolution.
He could resign and flee the country. Or there could be a military coup. Read the full analysis here.
Many Sri Lankans thronged buses in the main city Colombo on Thursday to return to their hometowns with leaders of political parties due to meet after the prime minister quit and went into hiding and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa warned of anarchy.
Hundreds of people thronged the main bus station in the commercial capital after authorities lifted an indefinite curfew at 7 am (0130 GMT). The curfew will be reimposed at 2 pm.
On Thursday, streets in the main city Colombo remained quiet, with some people venturing out to buy essential supplies.
Later in the day, leaders of political parties are to meet the speaker of the country's parliament to discuss the current situation. (Reuters)
His beloved villa has been daubed in graffiti by protesters, and a museum dedicated to his father ransacked. Now former Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa is in hiding in a heavily fortified military base, protected by the armed forces.
The reversal of fortunes for the island nation's most powerful politician for decades has been giddying. A scion of the Rajapaksa family beloved by many Sri Lankans for ending a protracted civil war, the 76-year-old is now a pariah.
An economic crisis, caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and economic mismanagement, has drained the country of money to pay for fuel, medicine and other vital supplies, meaning lengthy blackouts and long queues for gasoline. Food prices are soaring. Weeks of largely peaceful demonstrations demanding the prime minister and his younger brother, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, stand down, turned violent on Monday in the deadliest unrest so far - nine people were killed and over 300 injured.
The turmoil is the worst to hit Sri Lanka since the war ended in 2009. The small southern town of Weeraketiya, where Mahinda liked to stay while visiting the family stronghold of Hambantota district, was not spared. According to interviews with half a dozen eyewitnesses and police officers, the villa was the first stop on a night of vandalism targeting Rajapaksa properties. No family members were at the residences when they were attacked.
Some locals, however, continue to support the Rajapaksa brothers, who are seen as heroes among the island's Sinhalese Buddhist majority for snuffing out the Tamil insurgency. (Reuters)
Sri Lanka prisons have launched an investigation on the allegations raised claiming that a group of inmates from the Watareka Open Prison Camp were used to attack protestors in Colombo recently, Commissioner General of Prisons Thushara Upuldeniya was quoted as saying by the News First website.
Footage posted on social media following the attack on peaceful protests showed locals detaining a group of men who later claimed that they were prisoners from the Watareka Open Prison Camp, the report added.
It was observed that the pants worn by the group of detained men were identical to those worn by people who were among the group that attacked peaceful protests on Monday in Colombo.
The Commissioner-General of Prisons said that the men were not wearing prison fatigues, but were wearing a uniform provided to them by the institutions that employed their services.
The Commissioner-General of Prisons, and another officer will be present at the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka on Thursday for an inquiry over the matter. (AP)
Curfew was lifted in Colombo for a few hours Wednesday morning. The capital city had been locked down after violent clashes broke out between pro- and anti-government protesters and the police on Monday following Mahinda Rajapaksa's resignation.
In a televised address Wednesday, President Rajapaksa said, “I am taking steps to appoint within this week a new prime minister who has the trust of a majority in Parliament, who can win over the confidence of the people and a new Cabinet to control the current situation, to stop the country from falling into anarchy and to continue the government’s functions that are at a standstill.”
He added, “I will appoint a young cabinet without any of the Rajapaksas.”
The new government will be given the opportunity to present a new program and be empowered to take the country forward, he said. "Steps will be taken to amend the Constitution to re-enact the contents of the 19th Amendment to further empower the Parliament."
"Calls from various factions for the abolition of the executive Presidency will be considered. With the new government and their potential to stabilize the country, we will have an opportunity to discuss this and work towards a common consensus," he said.
🔴 President Rajapaksa vows to appoint new PM, Cabinet this week
🔴 Mahinda Rajapaksa provided protection at Trincomalee Naval Base
🔴 Defence Secretary denies speculations of military takeover
🔴 Central Bank Governor threatens to quit over political instability
Read more
Following President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s announcement that he will appoint a new Prime Minister and Cabinet this week, the main Opposition party, Samagi Jana Balawegaya, is divided over the new leader. SJB’s Sajith Premadasa is unwilling to be the prime minister in the interim government under Rajapaksa, news agency PTI reported.
The party’s leading figure Harin Fernando told reporters that he had decided to remain independent of the party saying, “This is not a time to put conditions and shirk our responsibility, every passing minute without a government would be disastrous."
The SJB wrote a four-point letter to the President on Wednesday night. It included conditions like he should step down during a specified period of time; he should not interfere in the day-to-day running of the government; the Cabinet for the interim government needs to be appointed not at his wish and the executive presidency must be abolished.
If President Gotabaya Rajapaksa would be agreeable, Premadasa would become the prime minister.
The group, which became independent of the ruling coalition that had suggested three names for the premier, said they would agree with the President's choice.
“The President appoints the person who in his opinion could command the support of Parliament. So let him first make the appointment and we can consider when it reaches Parliament,” Anura Yapa, a legislator of the group, told PTI.
Violent clashes broke out between government supporters and anti-government protesters on Monday after the resignation of Mahinda Rajapaksa as the prime minister of Sri Lanka. The residences and properties of the erstwhile PM and his loyalists were vandalised during the incident.
Troops and military vehicles have been deployed in the streets of Colombo and at various checkpoints across the country amid widespread protests against the government over the economic failure of the country. The armed forces and the police have been ordered to shoot at anyone threatening lives or causing damage to public property or seen looting.
Speaking on the unprecedented violence that took place on Monday following Mahinda Rajapaksa's resignation, the President Wednesday said what happened was very unfortunate. "The murders, assaults, acts of intimidation, destruction of property, and the series of heinous acts that followed cannot be justified at all," he said.
Gotabaya said that the Inspector General of Police has been instructed to conduct investigations. He also said that Sri Lanka Police and Three-Armed Forces have been ordered to strictly enforce the law against those who cause violence.
"Steps will be taken to strictly enforce the law against those who planned, aided, promoted, and are connected to these events,” Gotabaya said while urging everyone to maintain calm. (PTI)
The Defense Ministry's top official, Kamal Gunaratne, denied speculation of a military takeover at a news conference held with the country's army and navy chiefs.
"None of our officers has a desire to take over the government. It has never happened in our country, and it is not easy to do it here,'' Gunaratne said. President Rajapaksa is a former top army officer and remains the country's official defense minister.
Gunaratne said the army will return to its barracks once the security situation normalizes.
The speculations of a military takeover, amid a political vacuum, came as troops were deployed to the streets of Colombo and at various checkpoints across the country. (AP)
Pope Francis on Wednesday appealed to the people of Sri Lanka to make their voices heard in a peaceful manner and asked the political leadership to heed their demands, as over a month-long, countrywide protests over severe economic distress took a dramatically violent turn earlier this week.
"I address a special thought to the people of SriLanka, especially the young. I urge everyone to maintain a peaceful approach, without giving in to violence. I appeal to all those with the responsibility to listen to the aspirations of the people, respecting human and civil rights," Francis said on Twitter.
Two days after Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned as Sri Lankan Prime Minister, his brother President Gotabaya Rajapaksa Wednesday said he will appoint a new PM and a cabinet this week, news agency PTI reported.
Sri Lanka’s central bank governor Wednesday said he would resign if political parties do not ensure stability in the next two weeks, news agency PTI reported. P Nandalal Weerasinghe told the media that without a political solution to the present crisis, the bank’s steps towards revival of the nation’s economy would not be successful.
Sri Lanka's ex-Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was evacuated from his Temple Trees official residence here, is being protected at the Trincomalee naval base, Defence Secretary Kamal Guneratne said on Wednesday, two days after the country witnessed unprecedented mob violence after the former strongman resigned.
The 76-year-old Sri Lanka People's Party (SLPP) leader, known for his brutal military campaign against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) during his presidency from 2005 to 2015, is being given protection amidst nationwide protests over the government's failure to tackle the worst economic crisis.
He is also facing calls for his arrest from Opposition politicians for inciting violence against peaceful anti-government protesters who were seeking his resignation as well as that of his elder brother and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa for mismanaging the country's economy. --PTI
Sri Lankan police on Wednesday summoned the chief security officer of former prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and recorded his statement over the violent clashes between anti- and pro-government protesters in the country that killed at least eight people and injured over 200 others.
Violence erupted in Sri Lanka on Monday after supporters of former prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa attacked peaceful anti-government protesters demanding his ouster over the country's worst economic crisis that led to acute shortages of staple food, fuel and power. Over 200 people have also been injured in the violence in Colombo and other cities.
The Criminal Investigations Department (CID) recorded a statement from the chief security officer of former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa over the Galle Face incident on Wednesday, the Colombo Gazette news portal reported.
He was summoned to the CID headquarters this morning to be questioned over the attack on peaceful protesters at Galle Face and near Temple Trees.
A criminal investigation has been launched into the mob attack on peaceful protesters at Galle Face and near Temple Trees, the official residence of the Sri Lankan prime minister. (PTI)
Troops and military vehicles have been deployed in the streets of Colombo amid widespread protests against the government over the economic failure of the country. The army said this was done to “ensure public security”, a News First newspaper said in its report.
On Tuesday, the Sri Lankan Ministry of Defence ordered the Army, the Air Force and the Navy personnel to open fire on anyone looting public property or causing harm to others amidst violent protests in the island nation over the unprecedented economic and political crisis.
Army Special Forces' Combat Riders have also been deployed on mobile patrol in Colombo and suburbs, the newspaper said.