All of Sri Lanka’s cabinet ministers resigned late Sunday, amid violent public protests demanding that the Rajapaksa administration resigns for “failed” the country in its crisis response. They handed in their resignations to Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, who would see President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Monday morning, according to Leader of the House Dinesh Gunawardena. This allows President Gotabaya to create a new Cabinet, despite coalition allies’ calls for a “caretaker government.”
Three members of the ruling family, Irrigation Minister Chamal Rajapaksa and Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa, as well as Sports Minister Namal Rajapaksa, were among the first to resign after a heated conversation between Prime Minister Mahinda and Cabinet members, informed sources stated.
Sri Lanka took to the streets
Sri Lanka’s Opposition parties, many student groups, and residents took to the streets on Sunday, breaking a government-imposed curfew, as public discontent grows over the Rajapaksa administration’s approach to the economic crisis.
While the country waits for the government to release a vital economic recovery plan, President Rajapaksa is under increasing pressure, particularly from his coalition partners. They are urgently seeking a new caretaker government, or they will resign. Hundreds of university students gathered in Nugegoda in the afternoon and marched, chanting anti-government slogans. Despite the presence of a large police presence, the rally went on.
According to local media accounts, students at the University of Peradeniya in the central Kandy area staged a similar protest, which was dispersed by police using water cannons and tear gas. Citizens continued to hold pocket protests in various spots near their houses. Authorities reportedly banned access to key social media sites and messaging apps in the early hours of Sunday, citing them as platforms for anti-government protests, but the ban was eventually lifted.
Separately, the major opposition party in Sri Lanka, Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), attempted to hold a protest march in Colombo’s Independence Square on Sunday morning but was stopped by police and the army. The Emergency and curfew, according to the SJB’s friends and other major members of the Opposition present, are designed to “quiet people’s demonstrations.”
Protest has been intensified
Citizen protests have grown in intensity across Sri Lanka in the last week as the country’s economic crisis has worsened. Families and companies are struggling due to a persistent food and fuel shortage, rising prices for essentials, and prolonged power outages. ‘Autocratic measures’ are a term used to describe actions taken by a government that
Sajith Premadasa, the Leader of the Opposition, accused the government of using “authoritarianism,” “autocratic tactics,” and “dictatorship” to restrict citizens’ voices. He told The Hindu, “Today is one of the worst days in Sri Lanka’s democratic political life.” “The dictatorship has utilized excessive power to subjugate and restrain the people of the country’s democratic rights.”
Mr. Premadasa claimed that the party had emerged on Sunday as an “alternative government” that represented the interests of the people. In the midst of talk of forming a “national government,” he denied any “political bargain” that would put his party in power. “Only a people’s mandate will bring us to power,” he declared.
Anurudda Bandara, a government opponent, was arrested earlier for reportedly hosting a Facebook group named ‘Gota Go Home.’ He was granted bail and released. The government’s “stifling free expression” ban was lifted in the afternoon, following widespread protest from senior lawyer groups, the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, and opposition parties.
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