Thousands protest and demand action over worsening economy in Sri Lanka

Thousands protest and demand action over worsening economy in Sri Lanka

Police in Sri Lanka have lifted an overnight curfew in the country’s capital after arresting dozens of people and quelling unrest that saw large crowds attempt to storm President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s private residence amid anger over a worsening economic crisis.

People in Sri Lanka are demanding their government address the crippling economic crisis. Protesters say if the government can't handle the food and fuel shortages,  there should be elections for a new government. Anger against the Rajapaksas has being growing after the power cuts, fuel and gas shortage continued.

At least 54 people were detained in Colombo’s Mirihana district in the early hours of Friday, the police said, branding the protesters as “organised extremists” trying to “create anarchy in the country”.

Police fired tear gas and a water cannon at thousands of protesters outside the home of Sri Lanka’s president Thursday, demanding he resign over the nation’s worst economic crisis as the crowds chanted “Go home Gota, go home!” and “Gota is a dictator”.

 

The crowds demonstrating along the roads leading to his private residence at Mirihana, on the outskirts of Colombo, stoned two army buses that police were using to block the protesters from entering the road leading to Rajapaksa’s residence. They set fire to one of buses and turned back a fire truck that rushed to douse it.

At least one person was severely injured in the leg when police fired tear gas cannisters directly at protesters to stop their attack on the bus.

The calls for Rajapaksa’s resignation came as Sri Lanka struggles with an economic downturn sparked by a foreign exchange crisis that has left the government unable to pay for imports of fuel, food, medicine and other essentials. The shortages have resulted in daily rolling blackouts for up to 13 hours in the island nation of 22 million people, and led to some state-run hospitals suspending routine surgeries.

Sri Lanka has turned to the International Monetary Fund for a bailout and is also seeking financial help from China and India. Beijing and New Delhi are reportedly each considering offering $1.5bn in credit facilities, on top of loans worth billions of dollars requested by Rajapaksa’s government.

The COVID-19 pandemic dealt a heavy blow to Sri Lanka’s economy, with the government estimating a loss of $14 billion in the last two years.Sri Lanka also has immense foreign debt after borrowing heavily on projects that don’t earn money. Its foreign debt repayment obligations are around $7 billion for this year alone.

According to the Central Bank, inflation rose to 17.5% in February from 16.8% a month earlier. Its expected to continue rising because the government has allowed the local currency to float freely.

Separately on Thursday, the country’s Catholic bishops called for unity among politicians, warning that the island is fast becoming a failed state.

All governments to date are responsible in varying degree for the crisis, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference in Sri Lanka said in a statement, adding that the government and the opposition must adopt a conciliatory approach without blaming each other.

- Input from news agencies