The Parliament would be summoned on Saturday (July 16) to take nominations for the next President and then to have an election among 225 MPs….reports Asian Lite News
Sri Lankan Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena on Friday officially announced the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
The Speaker said that as per Constitution, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will be appointed as the President of Sri Lanka until the a new President is elected.
“As one of the oldest democracies in South Asia, I urge all the political parties and the people to assist to follow the democratic practices and take necessary steps to resolve the current situation,” the Speaker said.
The Parliament would be summoned on Saturday (July 16) to take nominations for the next President and then to have an election among 225 MPs.
The island nation saw months of protests over food, fuel shortage and mishandling of economny. Inflation in the crisis-hit country is more than 50 per cent.
Chief of Defence Staff, Shavendra de Silva urged the people to stay calm and assist the security forces until the next President is elected from Parliament on July 20….reports SUSITHA FERNANDO
Leading Sri Lanka’s politics into further chaos, a majority of the political parties have threatened to bring a no confidence motion against the Prime Minister and Acting President Ranil Wickremesingeh.
Opposition parties have informed the Speaker that Ranil Wickremesinghe should resign immediately and Parliament should be summoned forthwith.
On Wednesday protesters, who demanded the exit of Wickremesinghe, took over the Prime Minister’s office despite the use of heavy force by the police and the military who fired water cannons and tear gas and finally shot in the air. Nearly 40 protesters were admitted to the hospital with injuries.
Shocking visuals float on social media as Lankans mark their protest against Gotabaya Rajapaksa (Photo Credit: Twitter)
Protesters next walked to the Speaker’s official residence and Parliament where they were chased away with heavy force in which 42 were injured, including two soldiers and a police man. Wednesday’s violent protests killed a 26-year-=old protester.
Chief of Defence Staff, Shavendra de Silva urged the people to stay calm and assist the security forces until the next President is elected from Parliament on July 20.
Wickremesinghe imposed emergency regulation and curfew to the Western province at Wednesday noon but later extended the curfew to the whole island and it was lifted at 5 a.m. on Thursday.
Acting President Wickremesinghe urged the political parties to appoint a Prime Minister acceptable to both the government and the opposition.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled the country amidst massive protests spread around the island and protesters took over his official house and the President’s Office, did not resign from his post as promised on July 9. The Speaker said that he had not received any communication from the President so far.
Rajapaska, who fled the country in a passenger plane belonging to the Sri Lanka Air Force to Maldives in early hours of Wednesday, is said to be planning to go to Singapore and then to a safer location in the Middle East. He has said that his resignation would be announced once he reaches his destination.
Shocking visuals float on social media as Lankans mark their protest against Gotabaya Rajapaksa (Photo Credit: Twitter)
As per reports, all party leaders discussed the current situation in the country at length…reports Asian Lite News
In order to tackle the ongoing political crisis in Sri Lanka, leaders of political parties met and decided that Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe should resign immediately to resolve the current situation in the country.
It was discussed at the special meeting held in Parliament this afternoon (13) with the participation of the members of the Committee on Parliamentary Business and the party leaders that the Prime Minister should resign from his position as soon as possible to resolve the current crisis situation in the country.
As per the media reports, all party leaders discussed the current situation in the country at length and the Chief of Defense Staff, the Commanders of the three-armed forces and the Inspector General of Police briefed the Members of Parliament about the current security situation.
Speaker mentioned that the President informed him via phone that the resignation letter of the President will be submitted before 12 midnight today (July 13) as he had announced to the country, NewsWire reported.
Minister of Public Security Hon. Tiran Alles, Members of Parliament Hon. Maithreepala Sirisena, Hon. Lakshman Kiriella, Hon. Hon. Anura Dissanayaka, Hon. Mano Ganesan, Hon. Vasudeva Nanayakkara, Hon. Weerasumana Weerasinghe, Hon. Douglas Devananda, Hon. Gayantha Karunatilleka, Hon. Hon. Ranjith Madduma Bandara, Hon. Gevindu Cumaratunga, Hon. Rauff Hakeem, Hon. (Dr.) V. Radhakrishnan, Hon. Udaya Gammanpila, Rev. Hon. (Ven.) Athuraliye Rathana Thero, Hon. M. A. Sumanthiran, Hon. Angajan Ramanathan, Hon. (Prof.) Tissa Vitharana marked their presence during the Party Leaders’ meet in the Sri Lankan parliament.
After President Gotabaya Rajapaksa escaped to the Maldives, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was made the interim President of Sri Lanka.
Wickremesinghe declared an emergency and imposed a curfew in the western province of the country on July 13 as protesters came prepared to face tear gas shelling by security forces in the country.
The country is facing a severe shortage of fuel and other essential supplies and is in the throes of its worst economic crisis with soaring inflation.
The oil supply shortage has forced schools and government offices to close until further notice.
Reduced domestic agricultural production, a lack of foreign exchange reserves, and local currency depreciation have fuelled the shortages. The economic crisis will push families into hunger and poverty – some for the first time – adding to the half a million people who the World Bank estimates have fallen below the poverty line because of the pandemic. (ANI)
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has not departed for Singapore on the scheduled Singapore Airlines flight from Male to Singapore…reports Asian Lite News
Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa who fled to Maldives on Wednesday followed by an uprising triggered due to the economic collapse of the island nation, is now waiting to travel further to Singapore.
Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who is now an acting president, has declared a state of emergency in the country and a curfew in the Western province had been imposed.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has not departed for Singapore on the scheduled Singapore Airlines flight from Male to Singapore, the Daily Mirror reported.
Rajapaksa along with his wife Ioma Rajapaksa and two security officers were expected to leave for Singapore on board SQ437 from Male to Singapore tonight but did not board the aircraft due to security issues, Daily Mirror added citing sources.
Moreover, securing a private aircraft for the embattled President is currently in talks, Maldivian Media reported.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his wife along with two bodyguards from Katunayake International Airport travelled to the Maldives after full approval of the country’s Defense Ministry on Wednesday. An Air Force flight was given early in the morning on 13th July 2022.
Lankans in Maldives protest
Meanwhile, Sri Lankans residing in the Maldives staged a protest on Wednesday against ex-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
They demanded that Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who is currently at a resort in the Maldives, be sent back to Sri Lanka, reported Newswire.
Video footage shared by a social media user shows Sri Lankans staging a protest in the Maldives’ capital, Male.
The protesters are seen holding the Sri Lankan national flag and placards with anti-government slogans.
Meanwhile, the Maldives media reports that Rajapaksa is set to leave for either Singapore or Dubai, UAE from the Maldives later Wednesday, reported Newswire.
Amid mayhem and chaos in Sri Lanka, acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe instructed armed forces and police to bring the current situation under control.
Further, some of the protesters have stormed the premises of Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister’s Office in Colombo.
Security personnel resorted to tear-gas shelling to drive away protestors on the streets of Colombo.
Wickremesinghe declared an emergency and imposed a curfew in the western province of the country as protests intensified following Rajapaksa’s escape to the Maldives.
A state of emergency was declared as protesters came prepared to face tear gas shelling by security forces deployed outside Wickremesinghe’s residence. Air patrolling also began around the PM’s residence.
The country’s opposition leader Sajith Premadasa said that the PM cannot exercise the powers of the President, and cannot declare a curfew or a state of emergency.
“PM becomes acting President only if the President appoints him as such, or if the office of President is vacant, or if the CJ in consultation with the Speaker forms the view that the President is unable to act,” Premadasa tweeted.
“In the absence of any of these, the PM cannot exercise the powers of President, and cannot declare curfew or a state of emergency,” he said in another tweet.
73-year-old Rajapaksa had gone into hiding after crowds of protesters stormed his residence on July 9 and he had announced that he will resign on July 13.
Sri Lanka is facing the worst economic crisis since its independence which has led to massive protests demanding the ouster of Rajapaksa as the President. Sri Lanka’s speaker of parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena has said political party leaders have decided to elect a new president on July 20 through a vote in parliament.
The development comes after thousands of people stormed into the President’s House in Fort on Saturday. The dramatic visuals also came from PM’s official residence where they were seen playing carrom board, sleeping on the sofa, enjoying in park premises and preparing food for dinner.
In the wake of record food price inflation, skyrocketing fuel costs and widespread commodity shortages, some 61 per cent of households in Sri Lanka are regularly using coping strategies to cut down on costs, such as reducing the amount they eat and consuming increasingly less nutritious meals. (ANI)
President Rajapaksa had left for the Maldives together with his wife and a bodyguard from the country’s main airport in Katunayake, closer to the capital…reports SUSITHA FERNANDO
Amidst severe public protest and an ultimatum to resign by protestors who took over the President’s House in a violent protest on Saturday, Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa left the country secretly, an emigration officer confirmed to IANS on early Wednesday.
President Rajapaksa had left for the Maldives together with his wife and a bodyguard from the country’s main airport in Katunayake, closer to the capital, the officer said, seeking anonymity.
Rajapaksa who attempted to escape together with his brother former Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa on Tuesday early was prevented to do so by immigration officers. However, he left the country in an Antonov-32 aircraftbelonging to Sri Lanka Air Force which took off from the main international airport, the source confirmed.
On Tuesday morning, the two Rajapaksa brothers were to leave for the UAE to go to the US, but immigration officers at the VIP lounge protested and declined to serve them. Amidst protests, the Rajapaksa brothers had left the airport, and Gotabaya is said to have taken refuge for almost a day at an Air Force base adjoining the airport.
On July 9 (Saturday), Rajapaksa left his official residence after protestors entered it and symbolically ousted the President. Gotabaya had announced that he would resign on Wednesday but had allegedly retracted stating that he would not resign if his family members were not allowed to flee the country.
Protestors had given an ultimatum till Wednesday by 1 p.m. for the resignation of the President and warned that mass crowds will be summoned to Colombo if retract his promise.
Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena who has been informed of the letter will then make a public announcement on Wednesday ending Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s presidency…reports Asian Lite News
Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has signed his resignation letter, dated for July 13 and the Speaker of Parliament will publicly announce it to the nation on Wednesday, the Daily Mirror reported.
The resignation letter of the President was signed and handed over to a senior government official who will hand it over to the Parliament Speaker.
Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena who has been informed of the letter will then make a public announcement on Wednesday ending Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s presidency, the Daily Mirror reported.
Speculation was rife on Monday that Rajapaksa had already left the island nation last afternoon, however, these reports were rejected by senior sources close to the President who confirmed to Daily Mirror that Rajapaksa was still in the country and was protected by the Armed Forces.
Just before the July 9 riots, President Rajapaksa was evacuated from the President’s House in Fort by the security forces and was protected on a naval vessel within the territorial waters of the country for security reasons, the Daily Mirror reported.
However, sources close to him said that Rajapaksa physically met Commanders of the tri-forces on Monday morning at 9.30 a.m. and thereafter remains in the country. His exact whereabouts in the country is unknown but he is likely to leave the country this week, paving way for a new President to be sworn in and an all-party government to be formed.
Shocking visuals float on social media as Lankans mark their protest against Gotabaya Rajapaksa (Photo Credit: Twitter)
On Wedneday, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will for a temporary period be sworn in as the President till a new President is selected by Parliament on July 20.
Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena in a statement said party leaders had decided to elect a new President on July 20 through a vote in Parliament in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.
Nominations for the presidency will be called for on July 19.
So far the two confirmed candidates are the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, who on Monday, already informed that he is ready to rebuild Sri Lanka’s economy.
Earlier, in an advisory the UAE Embassy to Sri Lanka asked its citizens not to travel to the island nation and stay away from the areas which are hotspots for demonstrations….reports Asian Lite News
After protests intensified in Sri Lanka amid political and economic unrest in the country, UAE’s flydubai has suspended its flights to the South Asian country.
According to a statement by the airlines, the passengers who had booked their tickets will be refunded their money. “Flydubai flights between Dubai and Colombo Airport (CMB) have been suspended from July 10 until further notice. We will continue to closely monitor the situation on the ground in Sri Lanka,” a flydubai spokesperson said in a statement on Monday, reported Khaleej Times.
However, Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways said its flights to Colombo are operating as scheduled and the airways is closely monitoring the situation in Sri Lanka. “Etihad Airways passenger services between Abu Dhabi and Colombo are currently operating as normal. Starting July 14, select return services from Colombo to Abu Dhabi will make a short stop to refuel at Cochin International Airport. Etihad continues to closely monitor the situation in Sri Lanka,” said an Etihad Airways spokesperson.
Servicemen are seen on duty on a street in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on May 10, 2022. (Photo by Ajith Perera/Xinhua/IANS)
Earlier, in an advisory the UAE Embassy to Sri Lanka asked its citizens not to travel to the island nation and stay away from the areas which are hotspots for demonstrations. “Due to the current circumstances, the UAE Embassy in Colombo calls on citizens in Sri Lanka to take precautions and stay away from the demonstration areas, and contact the embassy in emergency cases… It also recommends that citizens wishing to travel to Sri Lanka postpone their travel,” it said in a statement on its website.
In the month of April, the budget carrier flydubai had cited Colombo as one of its popular destinations. The flight saw an increase in demand for flights, said the media portal. “We apologise for the inconvenience caused to our passengers’ travel schedules,” said the flydubai statement.
The Dubai-based airline last month said it is preparing for a record-breaking summer amidst a surge in demand for travel after the Covid-19 pandemic. It expects to carry three million passengers over the busiest summer in the airline’s history. It projected an average of 8,500 departures per month are scheduled across flydubai’s network of 102 destinations, which exceeds pre-pandemic levels.
Shocking visuals float on social media as Lankans mark their protest against Gotabaya Rajapaksa (Photo Credit: Twitter)
The development comes after thousands of people stormed into the President’s House in Fort on Saturday. The dramatic visuals came from PM’s official residence where they were seen playing carrom board, sleeping on the sofa, enjoying in park premises and preparing food for dinner.
Even Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe also announced to step down from his posts amid the ongoing protests. However, the protesters who have occupied the residences of the President and Prime Minister have cleared that they will continue to occupy their houses until they resign from their posts.
The worsening economic situation in the country has led to increasing tensions and over the last few weeks, there were reports of several confrontations between individuals and members of the police force and the armed forces at fuel stations where thousands of desperate members of the public have queued for hours and sometimes days.
flydubai
Sri Lanka is suffering its worst economic crisis since gaining independence in 1948, which comes on the heels of successive waves of COVID-19, threatening to undo years of development progress. Earlier, on Saturday, Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena announced in a press conference that the President will resign from his post on July 13.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa officially informed PM Wickremesinghe that he is resigning from his post. Meanwhile, former Sri Lankan cricketer Sanath Jayasuriya called July 9, the day when the demonstration started, a “public day.” The oil supply shortage has forced schools and government offices to close until further notice.
Amid the fuel shortage in Sri Lanka, the 1990 emergency ambulance service has been suspended in several areas. The Suwa Seriya Ambulance Service had urged the public to refrain from calling the 1990 emergency ambulance service in the affected areas, Colombo Gazette reported.
The economic crisis has particularly impacted food security, agriculture, livelihoods, and access to health services.Sri Lanka is one of the few nations named by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) which is expected to go without food due to the global food shortage expected this year. (ANI)
Premadasa described the current situation in Sri Lanka as “confused, uncertainty and total anarchy”, saying it needs “consensus, consultation, compromise and coming togetherness”….reports Asian Lite News
Sri Lanka’s main Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa has told a UK media channel that he intends to run for the President’s post, once Gotabaya Rajapaksa steps down.
This comes after his Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) party held talks with allies to get support for the move, the BBC reported.
Sri Lanka is facing an unprecedented economic crisis which has brought thousands to the streets since March.
The country has run out of cash and is struggling to import basic items like food, fuel and medicine, the BBC reported.
President Rajapaksa announced that he plans to resign this week, and the Speaker of parliament has said lawmakers will choose the next President on July 20.
Premadasa told the BBC that his party and allies agreed he should be “putting my nomination for the position of presidency, if a vacancy occurs”.
He lost the presidential election in 2019, and would need the support of the governing alliance MPs to win.
He is banking on getting it due to the popular discontent against Rajapaksa and his family, who have dominated Sri Lankan politics for more than two decades, the BBC reported.
The country’s inflation rate reached a whopping 55 per cent in June, and millions of people are struggling to make a living.
Premadasa said he was ready to take part in an all-party interim government.
The SJB leader has been criticised for refusing to take the post of Prime Minister when it was offered to him in April. His rival Ranil Wickremesinghe was appointed — but has also indicated that he would resign to make way for a unity government.
Premadasa described the current situation in Sri Lanka as “confused, uncertainty and total anarchy”, saying it needs “consensus, consultation, compromise and coming togetherness”.
The country’s usable reserves have dropped to around $250m (�210m), according to local media reports.
The crippling shortage of fuel has devastated public transport. There are rolling power cuts as power plants lack enough fuel to function. Schools are closed this week as well due to the fuel crisis. Many people are trying to leave the country.
Premadasa has conceded that there are no quick fixes.
To return the economy to 2019 levels would take nearly four to five years, he said, adding that his party had an economic plan to overcome the crisis.
“We are not going to hoodwink the people. We are going to be frank and present a plan to get rid of Sri Lanka’s economic ills,” Premadasa said.
But the protesters at the Galle Face site in Colombo say that all 225 members of Parliament are responsible for the current situation, and they want a new beginning with fresh and energetic people in politics.
Sanjith Premadasa, 55, is the son of Ranasinghe Premadasa, who was Sri Lanka’s third President from January 2, 1989 to May 1, 1993, when he was assassinated. Before that, he had served as the Prime Minister in the government of JR Jayawardene from February 6, 1978 to January 1, 1989
Solheim, who acted as the main facilitator of the peace process in Sri Lanka from 1998 to 2005, said no one should blame the island nation for purchasing oil wherever it can get it, including from Russia…writes Vishal Gulati
The people of Sri Lanka have bravely taken the first important step — to dismiss the incompetent and corrupt Rajapaksa family dynasty that brought the crisis upon the land. Now it is time to establish an all-party interim government that calls upon friendly nations like India to provide financial support, said Erik Solheim, Norwegian peace mediator in the 30-year-long Sri Lanka civil war.
In an exclusive virtual interview, former UN Environment Programme executive director Solheim told IANS that after establishing an all-party government it will start negotiations with the international financial institutions and call upon friendly governments like India, China, Japan and the West to provide financial support.
“Deep economic reforms will be a necessary part of the process,” he said.
Solheim, who acted as the main facilitator of the peace process in Sri Lanka from 1998 to 2005, said no one should blame the island nation for purchasing oil wherever it can get it, including from Russia.
Sri Lanka’s civil war ended in 2009, with the killing of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, who met Solheim more often than any other foreigner and persuaded him to enter a peace process and succeeded.
To a question: What is next for Sri Lanka that is facing its worst economic crisis with high inflation and rising and critically low level of foreign reserves?
Solheim, who has contributed to peace processes in Sudan, Nepal, Myanmar and Burundi too, replied, “After an initial phase of an all-party interim government, the next step will be elections for a new Parliament.
“The Sri Lankan revolution has been largely leaderless, so the people of Sri Lanka are likely to elect into power already well known opposition leaders. The current leader of the opposition Sajith Premadasa and the foremost Tamil politician in Sri Lanka, M.A. Sumanthiran, are likely leaders to steer Sri Lanka out of the crisis and back to normalcy.”
Responding to a question that the country might face a severe hunger challenge, Solheim replied, “No one should underestimate the debt of the economic crisis in Sri Lanka.
“The suffering of both poor people and the middle class is immense. People and businesses cannot get transport. There is a huge shortage of basically everything. Hopefully a hunger crisis can be avoided. Sri Lanka is a very fertile place with industrious people.”
Servicemen are seen on duty on a street in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on May 10, 2022. (Photo by Ajith Perera/Xinhua/IANS)
For India, what does the crisis mean?
At this, he said there was never any love between India and the Rajapaksas.
“After the overwhelming military victory over the Tamil Tigers in 2009, the Rajapaksa government constantly dismissed Indian advice to amend the constitution and share power and recognition with the minorities, particularly the Tamils.
“Rajapaksa followed a chauvinistic ethnic policy centralising decisions in Colombo, very different from the Indian federal model. Through this chauvinism, they also wasted large resources on military spending, money which would have been dearly needed to avoid the present economic crisis.”
Solheim, the president of the Belt and Road Initiative Green Development Institute, told IANS it is completely unfair to blame China for the problems caused by the mismanagement of the Rajapaksa governments.
“Sri Lanka has much larger debt to the west than to China. China constructed roads and ports at the request of the legitimate Sri Lankan government of the time.”
“But Sri Lankans should usefully look at the map. India is their only neighbour, a boat ride away. India is also a family — the same ethnicities, religions, languages, food. India will always be the main international partner for Sri Lanka. China, the US and others are next in line,” said the senior advisor of the World Resources Institute (WRI).
To a question: How and when did the government of Norway decide to mediate in Sri Lanka? At that time, were you acceptable to New Delhi too?
Solheim replied, “Norway was asked in 1998 by then president of Sri Lanka Chandrika Kumaratunga and the leader of the Tigers, Prabhakaran to mediate in the civil war.
“We played that role for close to 10 years. India throughout gave full support to the peace process and encouraged us to continue. We kept India informed and asked advice on even the smallest step. I am still very sad that at the end we were unsuccessful.”
“I believe Sri Lanka would have been in a much better place today if the peace process had succeeded,” Solheim concluded.
External affairs minister Jaishankar says that Lankans are currently working out their problems and India will wait and see the outcome…reports Asian Lite News
A day after protestors stormed the Sri Lankan President’s official residence, India has said that it stands “with the people of Sri Lanka as they seek to realize their aspirations for prosperity and progress through democratic means and values, established institutions and constitutional framework”.
“We are aware of the many challenges that Sri Lanka and its people have been facing, and we have stood with the Sri Lankan people as they have tried to overcome this difficult period,” Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said in response to media queries on Sunday.
Pointing out that the recent developments in Sri Lanka were being followed closely, he said “India is Sri Lanka’s closest neighbour and our two countries share deep civilizational bonds”.
In pursuance of the central place that Sri Lanka occupies in the Neighbourhood First policy, India had extended this “an unprecedented support” of over $3.8 billion this year itself for ameliorating the serious economic situation in Sri Lanka, Bagchi pointed out.
Earlier in the day, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had said that India had always been supportive of Sri Lanka and it was trying to help the neighbouring country through its current economic crisis.
Speaking with mediapersons in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, EAM Jaishankar said, “They are right now working through their problems, so we have to wait and see what they do.”
Sri Lanka was plunged into an unprecedented political crisis after thousands of angry protestors on Saturday stormed the official residence of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the home of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. Both have since said that they will resign from their positions.
Anger has mounted over the past several weeks as Sri Lanka grapples with a severe economic crisis, including acute shortage of food, fuel, medicines, and other essential items.
India has been lending a helping hand to Sri Lanka in this hour of need, providing aid worth over USD 3.5 billion in addition to Lines of Credit for fuel and fertilisers and humanitarian assistance like food and medicines.
On Sunday, India handed over more than 44,000 MT of urea supplied under a credit line extended to Sri Lanka.
Indian High Commissioner in Sri Lanka Gopal Baglay stressed that this latest assistance by India symbolises the continued commitment to support the people of Sri Lanka, including farmers, and bolster the efforts for food security of the country’s citizens.
