The economic crisis in Sri Lanka has caused a great disaster in the country! The people took to the streets and the demonstrators targeted the president by adding to the protests.
Thousands of demonstrators from all over the country, carrying black flags in their hands, gathered in Colombo, where the evening curfew was declared but later lifted due to the protest.
According to Sri Lankan media reports, hundreds of anti-government protesters broke through the barricades around the compound where President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s official residence and office is located.
Security forces opened fire in the air to disperse the protesters entering the presidential compound.
THE PRESIDENT WAS TAKEN TO ANOTHER PLACE
In the news in the Asian media, it was claimed that President Rajapaksa left the campus and was taken to a safe place after the protesters forcibly entered the campus.
Police and soldiers deployed in Colombo had taken intense security measures around the presidential residence against protesters demanding the resignation of President Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.
The curfew, which was put into effect yesterday at 21:00 local time in Colombo and its surroundings, was lifted in the morning due to the objections of opposition politicians and lawyers.
Under the Sri Lankan constitution, it is nearly impossible for a head of state to be removed from office unless he resigns voluntarily.
SITUATION IN SRI LANKA
The people in the country, which is facing the biggest economic crisis in its history, intensified their protests at the end of March after the power cuts found 13 hours a day.
There was a clash between the demonstrators gathered around the Sri Lankan Prime Minister’s Office on 9 May and the supporters of the government, and military units were called to duty in the capital Colombo.
After increasing pressure from the opposition, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned on 9 May and the cabinet was dissolved.
“OUR ECONOMY COMPLETELY CRASHED”
“Our economy has completely collapsed,” Prime Minister Wickremesinghe, who succeeded Rajapaksa, said in a speech in parliament, saying that Sri Lanka faces a serious situation beyond fuel, gas, electricity and food shortages. He said that he could not even pay for oil imports.
A nationwide curfew was declared after the violence, and the government ordered that anyone who damaged public property or others during the protests be shot at.
In the protests that spread across the country, 8 people, including the ruling party deputy and 2 police officers, lost their lives and at least 250 people were injured.
(AA)