He had promised that he would step down as president of Sri Lanka on Wednesday. But at the end of the day, Gotabaya Rajapaksa had fled to the Maldives after months of protests, but had not yet received a formal letter of resignation.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, now acting president, also said he was prepared to leave. But he too seems to cling to power.
In anger at these delaying tactics, thousands of protesters marched into the prime minister’s office on Wednesday morning. Attempts by police to stop them with tear gas and warning shots were unsuccessful. In the end, the protesters took the colonial white building. At least one person has been killed in the violent riots in Colombo, the largest city in Sri Lanka. A curfew is in effect in the country until early Thursday morning.
The storming of the prime minister’s office seemed like a repeat of Saturday, when protesters occupied the presidential palace. Rajapaksa was not present, and promised in a statement that he would resign on July 13. The Prime Minister indicated that he would follow that example.
Political Dynasty
The protests against Rajapaksa started in March, out of dissatisfaction with his economic policies. Protesters say he acted too late to deal with huge international debts created in the corona crisis and exacerbated by the impact of the war in Ukraine. Supermarkets became empty, there was a shortage of medicines and daily life came to a virtual standstill due to lack of petrol. After months of demonstrations, the demonstrators were only satisfied with the departure of the president. Gotabaya Rajapaksa, elected in 2019, is a member of a political dynasty that has ruled Sri Lanka for decades and has long been accused of nepotism.
After the storming of the presidential palace on Saturday, “he must have realized that his popularity has fallen to an all-time low,” economist Ganeshan Wignaraja of the international think tank ODI said Wednesday morning. Prime Minister Wickremesinghe, previously an opposition politician, also no longer has any credit with demonstrators. He had been appointed in May in an effort to accommodate the protesters. But many citizens feel that he has not done enough for the economy since then. A protester explained to Reuters news agency on Wednesday why Wickremesinghe also had to leave: “They both belong to the old, rotten politics. We don’t want that anymore.”
The fact that the president fled before resigning is also likely an attempt to avoid prosecution. During the protests, the call for “justice” grew louder not only for clapping hands with his family, but also for the war crimes he allegedly committed in the Sri Lankan civil war. His brother Mahinda, then president, ended the long conflict with the Tamil Tigers in 2009. Gotabaya Rajapaksa then headed the Ministry of Defence, killing and disappearing people from the Tamil community.
transitional government
It is unclear who according to the protesters should take his place. In the crisis atmosphere that arose on Saturday, party leaders from parliament drew up a plan for a transitional government. On Tuesday, parliamentarians are expected to appoint a new president.
According to analyst Wignaraja, in this severe economic crisis, a power vacuum would be disastrous. “The priority of a new government is to stabilize the economy by re-entering talks with the International Monetary Fund. If Sri Lanka cooperates with the IMF, it will inspire confidence and enable lending.” The new policymakers must then implement structural reforms to allow for foreign investment. The ailing Sri Lankan citizens will now first depend on foreign aid, according to Wignaraja. “If friendly countries – India, the US, Japan and the EU – form a consortium, they can provide essential foreign aid. A humanitarian crisis is imminent.”
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