Sri Lankaʼs Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe announced a state of emergency amid large-scale protests and clashes with the police. The spokesman for the head of the government said that he had assembled a committee "to restore law and order."
This is reported by Al Jazeera.
Protests and clashes intensified in the country, especially in the capital Colombo, after the public learned about the escape of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to the Maldives.
The security forces are trying to disperse the people and free the captured presidential residence from the demonstrators. At the same time, some experts say that the prime minister cannot impose a state of emergency, since no acting president has been appointed. The Prime Ministerʼs Office confirmed that at the time of the announcement of the National Assembly, it had not received President Rajapaksaʼs resignation letter.
Protesters, meanwhile, are demanding the resignation of the government. Today they seized the studio of the national television and broke into the office of the Prime Minister in Colombo. People were met there by security forces with water cannons and tear gas.
- The largest financial crisis since 1948 is taking place in Sri Lanka. The countryʼs foreign exchange reserves fell to a record low level, in April Sri Lanka declared a default. The authorities suspended the work of schools and limited the sale of fuel. In several large cities, in particular, in Colombo, hundreds of people stand in queues for hours for fuel. Because of this, there are clashes with the police and the military.
- On July 6, the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, Ranil Wickremesinghe, declared that his country was bankrupt.
- On July 9, in Sri Lankaʼs largest city, Colombo, protesters seized the presidentʼs residence and demanded his resignation.