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Sri Lankan PM resigns amid economic crisis
Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa resigns amid mass protests over the country's worst economic crisis since independence
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-61381536
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-61381536
Earlier:
Sri Lanka’s ruling party supporters storm protest site in Colombo
Supporters of Sri Lanka’s ruling party have stormed a major protest site in the country’s commercial capital Colombo, attacking anti-government demonstrators and clashing with police who used teargas and water cannon to drive them back.
A curfew has been imposed across the island nation of 22 million people after the violence in Colombo, a police spokesman said, as President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his elder brother, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, appealed for calm.
Protests against the Rajapaksa government have raged for weeks amid the country’s worst financial crisis since independence, with thousands demanding Rajapaksa and his influential family quit for mishandling the economy.
On Monday, hundreds of ruling party supporters rallied outside the prime minister’s official residence before marching to an anti-government protest site outside the presidential office.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/09/sri-lanka-ruling-party-supporters-storm-protest-site-in-colombo
Supporters of Sri Lanka’s ruling party have stormed a major protest site in the country’s commercial capital Colombo, attacking anti-government demonstrators and clashing with police who used teargas and water cannon to drive them back.
A curfew has been imposed across the island nation of 22 million people after the violence in Colombo, a police spokesman said, as President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his elder brother, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, appealed for calm.
Protests against the Rajapaksa government have raged for weeks amid the country’s worst financial crisis since independence, with thousands demanding Rajapaksa and his influential family quit for mishandling the economy.
On Monday, hundreds of ruling party supporters rallied outside the prime minister’s official residence before marching to an anti-government protest site outside the presidential office.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/09/sri-lanka-ruling-party-supporters-storm-protest-site-in-colombo
Friday 6th:
Sri Lankan president calls second state of emergency in five weeks
Sri Lanka’s president has declared a state of emergency for the second time in five weeks, giving security forces sweeping powers as a nationwide strike demanding his resignation brought the country to standstill.
A spokesperson for Gotabaya Rajapaksa said he invoked the tough laws to “ensure public order” after shops closed and public transport was halted on Friday by unions blaming him for the unprecedented economic crisis, which has ignited weeks of unrest.
Earlier on Friday, police used teargas and water cannon to disperse students attempting to storm the national parliament demanding Rajapaksa resign.
The state of emergency gives powers to security forces to arrest and detain suspects for long periods without judicial supervision. It also allows the deployment of troops to maintain law and order in addition to police.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/06/sri-lankan-president-calls-second-state-of-emergency-in-five-weeks
Sri Lanka’s president has declared a state of emergency for the second time in five weeks, giving security forces sweeping powers as a nationwide strike demanding his resignation brought the country to standstill.
A spokesperson for Gotabaya Rajapaksa said he invoked the tough laws to “ensure public order” after shops closed and public transport was halted on Friday by unions blaming him for the unprecedented economic crisis, which has ignited weeks of unrest.
Earlier on Friday, police used teargas and water cannon to disperse students attempting to storm the national parliament demanding Rajapaksa resign.
The state of emergency gives powers to security forces to arrest and detain suspects for long periods without judicial supervision. It also allows the deployment of troops to maintain law and order in addition to police.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/06/sri-lankan-president-calls-second-state-of-emergency-in-five-weeks