Sri Lankan forces make arrests, clear main protest site
Sri Lankan security forces arrested several people by early Friday and cleared the main camp protesters have occupied for more than three months while demanding the nation's leaders resign over an unprecedented economic collapse.
Army and police personnel arrived in trucks and buses around midnight, removing tents and protest banners at the site near the presidential palace in the capital, Colombo, where demonstrators have gathered for the past 104 days. They blocked off roads leading to the site and carried long poles. The security forces were witnessed beating up at least two journalists.
Why new Sri Lanka needs a Tamil leader
No calls to a “neutral umpire”. No politicians making grand promises. No religious leaders spreading communal hatred. Just people. Or better still, peoples — Sinhalese, Tamil, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindus. Students, their parents and grandparents, professionals – teachers, nurses, lawyers, bankers, doctors, computer engineers.
From April 9 to July 9, as an economic crisis brought about by a dollar shortage suddenly manifested in crippling shortages of food, fuel and medicines, Sri Lankans of all hues congregated at Colombo’s Galle Face oceanfront, with only one demand: “Gota Go Home”. They had no leaders but they were well-organised. Fastidiously, they cleaned up the protest site every morning and evening, as if to convey the cleaning up of Sri Lanka itself. Out of the plastic waste, they created artwork on the promenade.
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Sri Lanka police on Friday arrested nine people after troops raided a protest camp, a police spokesperson told Reuters.
Angry at the pre-dawn raids, hundreds of protesters marched from the city's main railway station towards the Galle Face protest site, where they were held back by military and riot police manning barricades.
"The very first day he used the armed forces - this is the face of Ranil Wickremesinghe," said Rajeevkanth Rajkumar, CEO of a construction company and one of the protesters. "We don't want any more innocent people to be injured. But we will go to that place (the protest site) at any cost." (Reuters)
Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe is expected to keep the finance portfolio and could also appoint a junior minister to help him out with the department's work, a source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Friday. (Reuters)
A group of protesters have gathered outside Colombo's Fort Railway station to protest against the early morning raid of Galle Face protest site in the Sri Lankan Capital, reports Daily Mirror.
Protesters sleep before being removed from the site of a protest camp inside the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo, Sri Lanka on July 22, 2022. Photo via Associated Press.
Gravely concerned by the use of force to disperse protestors, says UN Sri Lanka's Resident Coordinator Hanaa Singer-Hamdy on the clearing of Galle Face protest site.
Dinesh Gunawardena took the oath as Sri Lanka's new prime minister on Friday, local television channels reported.
Gunawardena's appointment comes a day after six-time prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in as the country's new president. (Reuters)
Ranil Wickremesinghe has been elected Sri Lanka’s new president, replacing Gotabaya Rajapaksa who fled the country and resigned in the aftermath of the public anger over the country’s economic crisis.
During his election campaign in 2019, Gotabaya talked about vistas of prosperity and repeatedly said that Sri Lanka’s per capita income will rise to $ 6,500 by 2025. This did not materialise. Instead, the Sri Lankan economy, which was at the cusp of upper-middle-class income status, (above $ 4,000) regressed, the country’s GDP growth entered negative territory and per capita incomes declined. The economy is likely to contract by -4 per cent to -6 per cent in 2022 and per capita income in the year will fall below that of 2019. There are also 7,50,000 “new poor” — a result of the hit taken by the country due to the pandemic and economic mismanagement under the Rajapaksa administration. There is a serious risk of further backsliding if policy reforms aren’t undertaken immediately by the new administration. (Read more)
Dinesh Gunawardena takes oath as new prime minister. (Reuters)
Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa reacted to the early morning raid of a major protest site in Colombo and termed it a "useless display of ego."
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)
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)
The refuelling process for vehicles as per the last digit of their registration number is starting on July 21, reported Sri Lanka-based Daily Mirror quoting the Power and Energy Ministry.
Vehicles with registration numbers ending in 3,4, or 5 are eligible for refuelling on Thursdays and Sundays. Fuel will be issued for a maximum of Rs.1,500 per motorcycle, Rs. 2,000 per three-wheeler and Rs.7,000 for other vehicles during the course of next week, added the report.
Ranil Wickremesinghe, a veteran politician and a long-time Rajapaksa ally, has taken oath as Sri Lanka's new president.
Veteran politician Ranil Wickremesinghe on Thursday will be sworn in as Sri Lanka's eighth president.
Wickremesinghe, 73, will be sworn in at the parliament premises before Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya. A Cabinet of 20-25 members will be appointed within the next few days to serve under President Wickremesinghe, the Daily Mirror newspaper reported. (PTI)
Singapore has granted a 14-day short-term visit pass to former Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa as he entered the country on a 'private visit' on July 14, according to immigration authorities here.
Rajapaksa, 73, on July 13 fled Sri Lanka to the Maldives and then Singapore and resigned after a popular uprising against his government for mismanaging the economy.
In a statement released in response to media queries about Rajapaksa's visit to Singapore, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority said that he was granted a short-term visit pass (STVP) on arrival. (Read more)
With Ranil Wickremesinghe elected as Sri Lanka's President, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Wednesday expressed worry that the turbulence in the island nation may continue and the economic crisis worsen.
"Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe was as unpopular as the Rajapaksas. The protest movement was directed against him too. I am afraid his election as President of Sri Lanka will not end the protests nor usher in unity and peace," Chidambaram said.
"I am worried that the turbulence in Sri Lanka may continue and the economic crisis worsen," he said. (PTI)
The four suspects who were arrested earlier this month for allegedly torching the private residence of Sri Lanka's newly-elected President Ranil Wickremesinghe were on Wednesday remanded to judicial custody till July 27.
The four suspects who were arrested on July 10, will be produced for an identification parade during the next hearing date on July 27, according to the Daily Mirror newspaper.
Sri Lanka's Central Investigation Department has informed the Colombo Fort Magistrate Thilina Gamage that an individual named Evan Perera, who was wanted for questioning over the incident has fled the country, the report said.
On July 9, in remarkable scenes of a country in meltdown, anti-government protesters set Wickremesinghe's private residence at Cambridge Place on fire. (PTI)
Protesters have demanded the resignation of newly elected president Ranil Wickremesinghe. "He has been elected against the will of the people. The Rajapaksas have brought him in," Father Jeewantha Peiris, a spokesman for the protest group ‘Aragalaya', said, PTI reported. "We will continue our protest campaign until Wickremesinghe resigns,” he stressed. (Photos: AP)
Sri Lankan shares closed higher on Wednesday, hours after the country's lawmakers voted in Ranil Wickremesinghe as the new president.
At the close of trade, the CSE All-Share index was 0.89% higher at 7,712.08.
On the CSE All-Share index, trading volume rose to 82.7 million shares from 66.8 million shares in the previous session. The equity market turnover was 1.34 billion rupees ($3.74 million), up from 1.12 billion rupees in the earlier session, according to exchange data. (Reuters)
The IMF hopes to complete the negotiations with Sri Lanka on a bailout package "as quickly as possible" and the "moment there is a government" in the country, its Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Wednesday, hours after the crisis-hit island nation elected a new president.
Sri Lanka has been gripped by severe shortages of fuel, food and other essentials after its foreign reserves dried up. Citizens have turned their anger on the government and forced once-powerful President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to resign last week.
The worst economic crisis since Sri Lanka gained independence in 1948 also sparked a political crisis in the country after a popular uprising against the government of Rajapaksa. (PTI)
Dullas Alahapperuma, the dissident leader of the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna party, who was defeated in the presidential election on Wednesday, said the primary task of the lawmakers must be to overcome the unprecedented economic crisis and rebuild public trust in the country's political system.
Addressing Parliament following the election results, the 63-year-old said constitutional amendments that prioritised personal and political party agendas were given more importance than national agenda, which betrayed the sovereignty of the citizens.
Alahapperuma expressed gratitude to the lawmakers for their unflinching support, and termed this defeat an “encouraging guidance”. (PTI)
Supporters of Acting President and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe were seen celebrating in Colombo after he was elected the president on July 20.
Sri Lanka's imposing presidential secretariat which was stormed by a sea of protesters in early July, forcing out then incumbent Gotabaya Rajapaksa, was almost deserted on Wednesday as his replacement was voted in. Parliament's selection of Wickremesinghe as Sri Lanka's next president was a deep disappointment for many protesters at the secretariat and adjoining protest camp in the commercial capital Colombo, which has been the epicentre of nationwide demonstrations.
"The reason why people came out against Gota(baya) was not a personal grudge. It was protesting for ideals and values he held," said Buwanaka Perera, a 26-year-old protester. "We see those same values, corruption and oppression in Ranil." (Reuters)
Following his victory, Ranil Wickremesinghe addressed the Parliament and said that Sri Lanka is in a very difficult situation and that there are big challenges ahead.
'I thank parliament for this honour,' the 73-year-old said after his victory was announced by the secretary-general of the legislature. (Reuters)
Leader of Opposition Sajith Premadasa, who had supported Dullas Alahapperuma in the presidential polls, said that the current session of the parliament is an "outdated" one with "a mandate given for an ousted president." However, he added that the opposition will support the government in putting the economy on track.
"We now have to consider how we ended up here, in the middle of a presidential term, to elect a new president. It was because of a massive public wave against an elected president. This is now an outdated parliament with a mandate given for an ousted president. We must work according to the Constitution," he said.
"The reality is people are struggling without fuel, food and basics. We must have a national policy with clear timelines to put the economy on track and save this country. As the opposition we will give our utmost support for this," he added. (Reuters)
Sri Lanka’s Acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe was confirmed as the successor to Gotabaya Rajapaksa by the country’s Parliament on July 20.
While Wickremesinghe is a familiar figure in India and around the world — beginning 1993, he had been Prime Minister on five occasions before becoming Acting President under the provisions of Sri Lanka’s Constitution after Gotabaya fled the country and resigned — Alahapperuma is comparatively lesser known.
Alahapperuma is an old Rajapaksa family loyalist who turned dissident in the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), the Rajapaksas’ political party. (Read more)
The Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka has rejected "baseless and purely speculative" media reports about efforts to influence political leaders in Sri Lanka regarding elections.
"We have seen baseless and purely speculative media reports about efforts at political level from India to influence political leaders in Sri Lanka regarding elections in the Sri Lankan Parliament to the post of the President of Sri Lanka. We categorically deny these media reports as completely false. They are clearly a figment of someone’s imagination," the High Commission said on Twitter.
"It is reiterated that India supports the realization of aspirations of the people of Sri Lanka in accordance with democratic means and values, established institutions as well as constitutional provisions, and doesn’t interfere in internal affairs and democratic processes of another country," it added.
Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena said that the Sri Lankan Parliament was postponed to July 27, reported Reuters.
"I accept the decision of parliament," said Dullas Alahapperuma once the result was announced.
"My effort was to support consensus-based policy-making to provide solutions to a deeply suffering population. I believe the space for that still exists and I will continue to work to strengthen that effort and work for the people. This is simply another milestone in my career. I hope that at least now you will cultivate the mentality to listen to the suffering masses," he said. (Reuters)
Ranil Wickremesinghe, a lawyer who served as Sri Lanka's prime minister a record six times, has finally made it to the top job, securing the presidency after winning a parliamentary vote on Wednesday despite fierce public opposition to his candidacy.
Wickremesinghe's rise to power is remarkable. He ran unsuccessfully for president twice before but secured enough votes among lawmakers despite controlling just one seat — as leader of the United National Party (UNP).
His experience in senior government positions, and a reputation as a shrewd operator that earned him the nickname "the fox", should count in his favour as he seeks a way out of Sri Lanka's devastating economic crisis. Wickremesinghe has also recently negotiated with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and enjoys a working relationship with key donor countries including India.
Whether he can quell mass protests that led to the ouster of the previous president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, remains to be seen. (Reuters)
Ranil Wickremesinghe defeated Dullas Alahapperuma, a rebel leader of the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) who is backed by the Opposition, and was elected as the new President of the island nation Wednesday.
The bulk of Wickremesinghe’s support came from the Rajapaksas’ discredited SLPP.
Wickremesinghe, who has been six times Prime Minister earlier, has indicated that it is the economy, not reforming the executive presidency, that is his main concern. (Read more)
Of the total 225 members of parliament, 223 MPs voted from which 4 votes were found invalid. Of the 219 votes that were counted, here's the vote share for the top three contenders.
Ranil Wickremesinghe: 134 votes
Dullas Alahapperuma: 82 votes
Anura Kumara Dissanayake: 3 votes
Acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe defeated Dullas Alahapperuma, a rebel leader of the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) who is backed by the Opposition, and is elected as the new President of Sri Lanka, reports Shubhajit Roy from Colombo.
After ascertaining the validity of the 223 votes cast in the Sri Lankan parliament to elect the new president, 4 votes were found to be invalid, reports Indian Express correspondent Shubhajit Roy from Colombo.
He added that the counting is underway and of the 225 members of parliament, 223 have voted and 2 were not present.
Voting has ended and the Parliament officials are validating the votes now. They have dismantled the voting booths and as the first step for counting, they are picking up each ballot paper from the box, checking and declaring them as 'valid' or 'invalid'.
Sri Lankan Parliament has shared a live video of the lawmakers casting their votes to elect the next president of the country.
Watch here:
Former Sri Lankan PM Mahinda Rajapaksa and his son Namal Rajapaksa, powerful members of the Rajapaksa family, have appeared in the Parliament to cast their votes, reports Indian Express correspondent Shubhajit Roy from Colombo. The duo were in hiding for the past weeks.
One of the SLPP party MPs arrived from the hospital to cast his vote and was seen with a saline bottle, reported local media.
Indian Express correspondent Shubhajit Roy reports from Colombo:
It has been a very smooth start to the voting process. Acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe kicked off the process by voting first. This was followed by the Speaker, Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa and Opposition candidate Dullas Alahapperuma. Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa is in the House and is expected to vote shortly.
Tables have been set up for the process in the middle of the House chamber and two make-shift polling stations have been set up in the House. Once the names of the MPs are called, they come one by one and cast their votes.