Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his family have made it clear that they will not resign
Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his family have made it clear that they will not resign
Police fired tear gas shells on students trying to storm Parliament of Sri Lanka On Thursday when protesters demanded resignation President Gotabaya Rajapakse On the worst economic crisis the country has ever faced.
Protesters led by the Inter University Students’ Federation were about to pull down yellow iron barricades on the main drive leading to the legislature when riot police fired tear gas.
The students had marched from a nearby university and were locked in the parliament building on a man-made lake island when police let in.
Eyewitnesses said that as the crowd dispersed, police continued to fire tear gas shells, which caught fire in shops in the nearby Diyatha Uyana Park.
Police had earlier put up barricades around the sprawling Parliament complex where the post of deputy speaker was being filled unopposed.
With Sri Lanka’s 22 million population facing severe shortages of food, fuel and medicines for months, thousands have taken to the streets to demand the resignation of Rajapaksa and other members of his powerful ruling family.
The president and his family have made it clear that they will not step down despite mounting protests across the island.
Trade unions call for strike
Sri Lanka’s trade unions on Friday announced a one-day shutdown.
In solidarity, the organizers of the strike have asked temples and churches to ring bells for an hour on Friday morning.
Finance Minister Ali Sabri warns On Wednesday, the country will have to endure its unprecedented economic hardships for at least two more years.
Mr Sabri said the country now has less than $50 million in usable foreign exchange reserves, needed to finance the goods needed to sustain Sri Lanka’s import-dependent economy.
Official data shows reserves at $1.7 billion, but much of that figure includes a Chinese currency swap that cannot be used to pay for imports from other countries.
Mr Sabri said the government has stumbled by delaying the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) approach to provide relief.
Sri Lanka’s economic crisis took hold as the coronavirus pandemic decimated income from tourism and remittances.
Last month, Colombo announced that it was defaulting on foreign debt worth $51 billion.