The nation erupted in protests against President Gotabaya’s administration, as the country’s food, energy, and medical supplies are nearing the end.
The president of the country Gotabaya Rajapaksa and prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa have been accused of nepotism. As the nation enters 2nd month of the most severe economic crisis ever experienced by the country, the nation’s food and energy supplies have been decreasing steadily. The Rajpaksa brothers. Left Prime Minister Mahinda Rajpaksa and left President Gottabaya Rajpaksa
The Rajapaksa brothers have faced nationwide protests for more than a month now, as many Sri-Lankans blame them for putting the country under severe economic duress by introducing laws and bills detrimental to the nation’s condition.
Under President Gotabaya’s reign, Sri Lanka’s foreign currency reserves have dwindled to under $50m. With the lessening of foreign currency reserves, Sri Lanka has been left at the mercy of bigger credit nations such as China and India.
The nation’s food and energy supplies have reached critical levels, with Government imposing nationwide power cuts to conserve the last of the nation’s energy supplies.
The former energy minister of Sri Lanka, Udaya Gammanpila was sacked from his position in March 2022, for opposing the government’s monetary policies.
Second emergency declaration in 5 weeks
Srilankan citizens have started protest demonstrations demanding the resignation of the President and Prime Minister. Early on Saturday, Gottabaya’s administration declared a state of emergency in the interests of public security.
This is the second time in five weeks that the government has imposed a state of emergency. Many experts see it as an attempt to suppress the dissent among the masses as a “State of Emergency” allows the president to have sweeping controls over the nation.
Due to the move, the country came to a screeching halt on Saturday morning, with business and transport in the capital city of Colombo slowing down to a bare minimum.
Sri Lankan police used tear gas and water cannons on demonstrators since the beginning of the month and the action was yet again repeated in a protest march on Saturday, in Colombo.
Sri Lankan authorities have been in meetings with the World Bank and International Monetary Funds to solve the issue of the economic crisis.
Former Energy Minister’s statement
The former energy minister of Sri Lanka, Udaya Gammanpila, said in a statement on Friday that the nation’s economic duress is something that the government should have seen coming while introducing the chemical fertilizer import law, last year.
He also added that in the future Sri Lanka will have to import fruit and vegetables to fill the distribution and availability gap in the market.
The country’s energy and medical reserves also neared red as Sri Lanka does not have any more foreign reserves to afford energy and medical supply imports.
India has produced nearly 500$ million dollars worth of petroleum products to Srilanka in the last three months and now the credit line is nearing thin.
Former energy minister Gammanpila said that “with India’s thinning credit line, Sri Lanka will now be at the mercy of The World Bank and International Monetary Funds”.
Following the state of emergency, a cabinet meeting was held by government representatives and it is rumored that President Gottabaya has asked his brother to resign as Prime minister.
Despite the credits of food, energy, and medical supplies it seems impossible for Srilanka to avoid the economic crisis that the country has been going through.
The impact of poorly planned government laws and regulations can be seen clearly in the country. As the nation’s food and energy supplies dwindle further downwards every day, Srilanka’s economy will undergo a very painful and traumatic shock that will take years to roll back again.
Published by: Gargi Sharma
Edited by: Aaradhana Singh
