Colombo: President of Sri Lanka Gotabaya Rajapakse declared a Emergency stiuation on the Friday after the day of anti-government strikes And protests over the worsening economic crisis.
A government notice said the measure, which drew immediate criticism from opposition leader Sajith Premadasa and the Canadian ambassador, is effective immediately and has been taken in the interest of public safety.
In more than a month of sporadicly violent anti-government protests amid a shortage of imported food, fuel and medicines, police fired tear gas at dozens of protesters outside parliament.
Hit hard by the pandemic, rising oil prices and government tax cuts, Sri Lanka has less than $50 million left in usable foreign reserves, the finance minister said this week.
Details of the latest emergency rules were not yet made public, but previous emergency laws have given the president more powers to deploy the military, detain people without charge, and break up protests.
His order must be approved by the Parliament within 30 days.
Calling for Rajapaksa to resign, Premadasa said the state of emergency “is contrary to the demand for any solution to the crisis”.
Canadian Ambassador to Sri Lanka David McKinnon said the decision was unnecessary.
“In the past weeks, demonstrations across Sri Lanka have given citizens the right to peaceful freedom of expression, and this is a credit to the country’s democracy,” he said.
‘Sick and weary of politicians’
Hundreds of university students and other protesters on Friday gathered on the main street of Parliament, where they started a sit-in on Thursday.
Some hung underwear over barricades as an insult to the political leadership.
“We are here because we are sick and tired of politicians lying to us. We want the president and this government to go home,” said 42-year-old advertising professional Poornima Muhandiram.
Thousands of shops, schools and businesses closed Friday as public and private sector workers went on strike to demand the president and government step down to deal with the island’s worst financial crisis in decades.
Passengers remained stranded as private bus and train operators joined the strike.
Health workers also joined the strike, although emergency services continued to operate.
Rajapaksa has refused to step down, repeatedly calling for a unity government led by him, but opposition leaders plan to bring a no-confidence motion against the president and the government next week.
Rajapaksa had earlier declared a state of emergency on 1 April, but withdrew it after five days.
A government notice said the measure, which drew immediate criticism from opposition leader Sajith Premadasa and the Canadian ambassador, is effective immediately and has been taken in the interest of public safety.
In more than a month of sporadicly violent anti-government protests amid a shortage of imported food, fuel and medicines, police fired tear gas at dozens of protesters outside parliament.
Hit hard by the pandemic, rising oil prices and government tax cuts, Sri Lanka has less than $50 million left in usable foreign reserves, the finance minister said this week.
Details of the latest emergency rules were not yet made public, but previous emergency laws have given the president more powers to deploy the military, detain people without charge, and break up protests.
His order must be approved by the Parliament within 30 days.
Calling for Rajapaksa to resign, Premadasa said the state of emergency “is contrary to the demand for any solution to the crisis”.
Canadian Ambassador to Sri Lanka David McKinnon said the decision was unnecessary.
“In the past weeks, demonstrations across Sri Lanka have given citizens the right to peaceful freedom of expression, and this is a credit to the country’s democracy,” he said.
‘Sick and weary of politicians’
Hundreds of university students and other protesters on Friday gathered on the main street of Parliament, where they started a sit-in on Thursday.
Some hung underwear over barricades as an insult to the political leadership.
“We are here because we are sick and tired of politicians lying to us. We want the president and this government to go home,” said 42-year-old advertising professional Poornima Muhandiram.
Thousands of shops, schools and businesses closed Friday as public and private sector workers went on strike to demand the president and government step down to deal with the island’s worst financial crisis in decades.
Passengers remained stranded as private bus and train operators joined the strike.
Health workers also joined the strike, although emergency services continued to operate.
Rajapaksa has refused to step down, repeatedly calling for a unity government led by him, but opposition leaders plan to bring a no-confidence motion against the president and the government next week.
Rajapaksa had earlier declared a state of emergency on 1 April, but withdrew it after five days.