Army soldiers stand guard after removing the protesters and their tents from the site of a protest camp outside the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo, Sri Lanka, July 22, 2022. (AP)Sri Lanka Crisis Live: A day after Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in as the new president, Sri Lankan police raided a protest camp and arrested nine people, said a Reuters report, quoting the police spokesperson. Media footage from the site showed soldiers armed with assault rifles trying to tear down the camp as dozens of police watched on. As daylight broke, dozens of troops in riot gear marched through the area and rows of protest tents that stood on both sides of the main road that passes in front of the president’s secretariat completely cleared out.
Protest organisers said hundreds of security personnel surrounded the “Gota Go Gama” protest camp, mockingly named after Rajapaksa, after midnight and then took apart a section of it. At least 50 protesters were injured, the organisers said, including some journalists who were beaten by security forces. Hospital sources said two were hospitalised.
Meanwhile, senior lawmaker Dinesh Gunawardena is tipped to be Sri Lanka’s next prime minister, four political sources said on Thursday, reported Reuters. Wickremesinghe is slated to appoint his new cabinet on Friday.
Sri Lankan army commandos walk past a damaged bus after it was set on fire by demonstrators in Colombo, Sri Lanka. (Reuters)
The US and British diplomats also expressed concern.
"We urge restraint by authorities and immediate access to medical attention for those injured," US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Julie Chung, said on Twitter. (Reuters)
The Bar Association of Sri Lanka said the crackdown could destabilise the country, which is in need of foreign aid and a bailout from the International Monetary Fund.
"The use of the armed forces to suppress civilian protests on the very first day in office of the new president is despicable and will have serious consequences on our country's social, economic and political stability," the collective of lawyers said in a statement. (Reuters)
The top UN official in Sri Lanka has called on all stakeholders in the country to engage in broad and inclusive consultations to resolve the current economic crisis and the grievances of the people, according to a senior official representing the UN chief.
Deputy Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Farhan Haq, said at the daily news briefing here on Thursday that UN Resident Coordinator in Sri Lanka, Hanaa Singer-Hamdy, "acknowledged the constitutional transfer of power to a new President”. (PTI)
Security troops early on Friday dismantled the Gota Go Gama IT Centre in Colombo city.
Sri Lankan police say military, police have launched an operation to recover Presidential Secretariat from protesters as "they have no legal right to hold it". (Reuters)
Sri Lankan security forces raided an anti-government protest camp in the commercial capital Colombo early on Friday, two protest organisers said, a sign that the country's new president was cracking down a day after his swearing-in.
Media footage from the site showed soldiers armed with assault rifles trying to tear down the camp as dozens of police watched on.
As daylight broke, dozens of troops in riot gear marched through the area and rows of protest tents that stood on both sides of the main road that passes in front of the president's secretariat completely cleared out. (Reuters)
Sri Lanka's economic collapse needs immediate global attention, not just from humanitarian agencies, but also from international financial institutions and other countries who must come to the bankrupt country's aid, according to UN human rights experts. The independent UN experts on Wednesday expressed alarm over record high inflation, rising commodity prices, power shortages, crippling fuel crisis and the economic collapse in Sri Lanka, at a time when the country grapples with unprecedented political turmoil.
The experts noted that this crisis has had a serious impact on the enjoyment of human rights for the entire population. “Sri Lanka's economic collapse needs immediate global attention, not just from humanitarian agencies, but from international financial institutions, private lenders and other countries who must come to the country's aid,” the experts said.
UN independent expert on foreign debt and human rights Attiya Waris said that time and again, “we have seen the grave systemic repercussions a debt crisis has had on countries, exposing deep structural gaps of the global financial system, and affecting the implementation of human rights.” (PTI/Yoshita Singh)
Sri Lanka's new President Ranil Wickremesinghe will swear in his Cabinet on Friday comprising previous members who already held positions when he became the acting President after the resignation of his predecessor Gotabaya Rajapaksa. The previous Cabinet will function till a national government is agreed upon once Parliament convenes and then a Cabinet reshuffle will take place.
Wickremesinghe, 73, who was on Thursday sworn in as the country's eighth president after he won a parliamentary ballot, has called for bipartisanship to address the unprecedented economic crisis the country is facing. Officials said Wickremesinghe would try to appoint an all-party government.
Wickremesinghe, a six-time former prime minister, was elected by lawmakers on Wednesday, in a rare move that could provide continuity for crucial discussions with the IMF for a bailout deal for the cash-strapped nation. (PTI)
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Sri Lanka's new president will appoint senior lawmaker Dinesh Gunawardena as the crisis-hit country's next prime minister, four political sources said on Thursday.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe is slated to appoint his new cabinet on Friday, a day after he was sworn into Sri Lanka's highest office following mass protests that forced predecessor Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee the country and resign. (Reuters)
Sri Lanka's Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa on Thursday met newly-appointed President Ranil Wickremesinghe and offered his party's constructive support to his government to avert further misery and disaster in the crisis-hit nation.
Wickremesinghe was sworn in as the 8th President of Sri Lanka on Thursday after his predecessor Gotabaya Rajapksa fled the country and resigned last week amidst the worst economic crisis faced by the country since independence in 1948.
Premadasa, the leader of the Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB), who had announced his intention to contest against Wickremesinghe withdrew from the race for presidency at the last minute and offered support to Dullas Alahapperuma, a key member from the breakaway group of the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) party. (PTI)
India on Thursday said it has been at the forefront of extending support to Sri Lanka and will continue to do so.
The comments by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) came a day after Sri Lankan Parliament elected Ranil Wickremesinghe as the country's President.
The 73-year-old Acting President won a parliamentary ballot days after his predecessor Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country amid escalating protests against his government over an unprecedented economic crisis marked by acute shortages of essentials like fuel, medicine and food.
"We will continue to stand by the people of Sri Lanka," MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said at a media briefing. (PTI)
A power outage in the Sri Lankan Parliament complex stopped the live broadcast of President Ranil Wickremesinghe's swearing-in ceremony, forcing authorities to launch an investigation by the Criminal Investigations Department into the incident, a media report said on Thursday.
Veteran politician Ranil Wickremesinghe was on Thursday sworn in as Sri Lanka's eighth president and will face the tough task of leading the country out of its unprecedented economic crisis and restoring order after months of mass anti-government protests.
Wickremesinghe, 73, was sworn in as the 8th Executive President of Sri Lanka at the Parliament complex before Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya. (PTI)
Sri Lankan shares ended higher for the fifth straight session on Thursday, hours after Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in as the island nation's new president.
* At the close of trade, the CSE All-Share index was 0.3% higher at 7,736.37.
* Veteran politician Wickremesinghe was sworn in as president a day after winning a vote in parliament and urging the nation to come together to find a way out of its worst economic crisis in decades. (Reuters)
Sri Lanka's headline inflation rate hit 59% in June, according to data from the country's statistics department released on Thursday.
The country's National Consumer Price Index rose by 58.9% year-on-year in June, against a 45.3% rise in May. (Reuters)
Newly-sworn in President Ranil Wickremesinghe will prorouge the parliament for 24 hours for a "fresh ceremonial start," MP Mano Ganesan said on Thursday. Prorouge refers to discontinuing a parliament session without dissolving it.
Train fares in Sri Lanka will be hiked from July 22 at midnight, reported Sri Lanka-based Daily Mirror citing the Sri Lanka Railway Department.
The train fares will be increased by an amount equivalent to half the bus fare for the identical distance, said the report.
The Australian High Commission in Colombo has issued a statement supporting the election of Ranil Wickremesinghe as the new Sri Lanka President. He was elected by "a democratic, constitutional process," the High Commission said in a statement on Twitter.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe's wife Maithree Wickremesinghe was among those who attended his swearing-in ceremony in Colombo on July 21.
The 57-year-old is an English professor at the Sri Lanka's University of Kelaniya. She was seen wearing an off-white saree and a string of pearls.
Former President and sitting MP Mahinda Rajapaksa was seen at Ranil Wickremesinghe's swearing-in ceremony in Colombo on Thursday.
"I am not a friend of the Rajapaksas, I am a friend of the people," President Ranil Wickremesinghe has told Sri Lankans, pledging to bring in the much-needed system change they are yearning for.
The anti-government protesters, who succeeded in forcing the powerful Rajapaksa family to leave their official positions amidst the unprecedented economic crisis, are also demanding Wickremesinghe's resignation as he is seen as close to Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
When asked how he will be different from the Rajapaksas as he is an old friend of theirs, Wickremesinghe said, “How am I an old friend of the Rajapaksas? I've been opposing them all this time,” the new President said.
He further said that "I am not a friend of the Rajapaksas, I am a friend of the people... I have worked earlier with (former president Chandrika) Kumaratunge. She belonged to one party, and I belonged to another. For me to work with a President from another party does not mean I am his friend,” the President said. (Reuters)