New Delhi: Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa announced a state of emergency in the island nation on Saturday after hundreds of people tried to storm the private residence of the President pressing for his resignation accusing him of failing to address the country’s worst economic crisis.
The President invoked sections of the Public Security Ordinance to rein in the violence sparked by deteriorating economic conditions.
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Know the latest developments in Sri Lankan Crisis
Emergency: Under sections of the Public Security Ordinance, the President gets the authority to make regulations in the interests of public security, preservation of public order, suppression of mutiny, riot, or civil commotion, or for the maintenance of essential supplies.
Under the emergency regulations, the president can authorise detentions, taking possession of any property, and search of any premises. He can also change or suspend any law.
The order came a day after 54 people were arrested and a curfew was briefly imposed in most parts of Colombo city on Friday. There are also calls for an island-wide public protest on Sunday.
Trade Deficit: Sri Lanka’s January trade deficit stood at $859 million, the country’s central bank said in a statement on Friday. The island nation’s January imports rose 23.1 per cent to $1.96 billion, while exports rose 17.5 per cent to $1.10 billion, according to the statement, as reported by Reuters.
Inflation surged to 17.5% in February, and it is expected to rise even further, the country’s Central Bank had said earlier.
Former ambassador pleads guilty to defrauding Sri Lankan government: In this worst economic phase, a former Sri Lankan ambassador has pleaded guilty to diverting and attempting to embezzle $332,027 from the Sri Lankan government during its 2013 purchase of a new embassy building in Washington D.C., the Department of Justice said, according to the PTI report.
Jaliya Chitran Wickramasuriya, 61, who now lives in Arlington, Virginia, served as Sri Lankan ambassador to the US from 2008 to 2014.
Sri Lanka Economic Crisis
In its most severe downturn since Independence fin 1948, Sri Lanka is facing a severe shortage of essential goods, including cooking gas, due to a foreign exchange crunch. There have been sharp price rises. Power cuts last up to 13 hours a day, with the country running out of fuel stock and the government left with no foreign exchange to pay for its fuel imports, according to media reports.
On Thursday, angry protesters gathered in front of President Rajapaksa’s residence in Colombo, demanding his resignation. They shouted slogans, blaming the poor economic situation on the government’s “gross mismanagement”.
The police resorted to firing tear gas shells and using water cannons after the protesters pulled down a steel barricade placed near Gotabaya’s residence.
In order to save electricity, the government is forced to turn off street lights, said power minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi amid a shortage of diesel that resulted in power cuts and halted trading on the main stock market.
Rajapaksa has been saying the economic downturn was largely due to the pandemic.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will hold discussions with Sri Lankan authorities on a possible loan programme in the coming days.
(With inputs from agencies)