Sri Lanka is once again in a state of emergency. Although an emergency has previously been declared, the government has now also imposed a nationwide curfew. After the public began huge protests on the highways, vandalizing politicians’ residences and destroying government property, the government issued a shoot-on-sight order to military soldiers.
Current Situation of Sri Lanka
After protestors were attacked by pro-government groups outside President Gotabaya Rajapaksa‘s office, army personnel were ordered to deploy in Sri Lanka’s capital. The Prime Minister decided to resign from his position as a result of the mounting pressure on the administration.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has decided to appoint an interim government to deal with the economic crisis. In protest, the populace set fire to the house of Sri Lanka’s resigned Prime Minister, plundering government properties and burning down numerous government employees. The angry public shoved one of the party officials into the river, along with his car.
Due to this President along with his family left his Presidential Palace. They flee to Colombo to the naval base after this incident. The President urged the public engaged in protests to stop these violent activities and extended the nationwide curfew to Wednesday. The people of Srilanka are currently facing power cuts due to the fuel unavailability and excess demand to fulfill. The power cuts are lasting for 14 hours and more.
According to International Monetary Fund (IMF), Srilanka needs to pay a debt of $35 billion. The severe shortage of foreign currency in Srilanka has made the government unable to import even the most essential goods (especially fuel). The mismanagement by the Srilanka government paved the way to elongate the roots of this economic crisis. The pandemic had made this crisis even worst.
“Sri lanka is a classic twin deficits ecomony”
Asian Development Bank paper 2019
As a remedy, President Rajapaksa’s government had decided to cut down the use of chemical fertilizers and canceled its import from great economies. This change has registered a decline in crop production and affected the farm sector.
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