2 years ago
Colombo:
Sri Lankan Army chief General Shavendra Silva today sought people's support to maintain peace as the island nation grapples with an unprecedented economic crisis. Four ministers have resigned from the cabinet over the last two days amid the unrest.
Thousands of anti-government protesters in Sri Lanka on Saturday barged into embattled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's official residence in central Colombo's high-security Fort area after breaking the barricades, as they demanded his resignation over the island nation's worst economic crisis in recent memory.
The protesters also torched the private residence of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe even after he offered to resign.
Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena told reporters that President Rajapaksa had agreed to step down on July 13. Prime Minister Wickremesinghe said he would resign as soon as an all-party government was ready to take over.
Here are the LIVE updates on Sri Lanka Crisis:
Opposition Agrees To Form Interim All-Party Government In Sri Lanka: Report
Sri Lanka's main opposition parties on Sunday agreed to form an all-party interim government after the anticipated resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Wednesday.
According to reports, opposition parties held talks to seek ways to steer the country forward in the current unprecedented economic crisis after Rajapaksa's resignation. Read More
3,700 MT Of Gas Arrives In Sri Lanka, Second Ship To Arrive Tomorrow
Amid the ongoing protest against the economic crisis, a ship containing 3,700 metric tonnes of LP gas has arrived in Sri Lanka.
The second ship carrying 3,740 metric tonnes of gas will arrive in the island nation tomorrow evening, Daily Mirror reported citing the Presidential Secretariat.
The statement added that the officers were instructed by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to carry out the unloading and distribution of LP gas as soon as the ship arrives at Kerawalapitiya at 3 p.m.
The third ship with 3,200 metric tonnes of gas will arrive in Sri Lanka on Friday and a total of 33,000 metric tonnes of gas is ordered for this month, local media reported.
Furthermore, the statement mentioned that Litro Gas company chairman Muditha Peiris had said that the distribution of the gas will be regular and systematic from Tuesday and the problem regarding domestic LP gas demand will be completely evaded by the end of this month.
Bakery Products Will Be Emptied From Shelves In 2-3 Days, Says Body
All Ceylon Bakery Owners' Association (ACBOA) said that bakery products including bread will be emptied from the shelves in the next two or three days amid severe food shortages in the country.
ACBOA President NK Jayawardena said that bread may disappear from bakery shelves soon due to the prevalent fuel crisis and the shortage and price increase of all ingredients, reported Daily Mirror.
With the current crisis and precarious economic situation, currently, 50 per cent of the bakery's production has stopped. The remainder too will grind to a halt very soon.
The ACBOA President further blamed the government for the fuel crisis, adding that he had informed the Power and Energy Minister about this fuel crisis, but no response from the minister came yet, reported Daily Mirror.
"Bakery production also falls under the essential service category. But nothing has been done to salvage the bakery industry so far," he said.
Opposition Parties Discuss Formation Of New All-Party Government
The opposition parties in Sri Lanka are holding a special party meeting to discuss the formation of the new all-arty government, NewsFirst reported.
The meeting of the main Opposition Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) and its constituent parties will be attended by the leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa, leader of Sri Lanka Muslim Congress Rauff Hakeem, leader of Tamil Progressive Alliance Mano Ganesan and leader of All Ceylon Makkal Congress Rishad Bathiudeen.
Vice President of the Communist Party of Sri Lanka Weerasumana Weerasinghe said that there will be a lengthy discussion about the all-party government.
Another meeting of the leaders of nine parties, including the National Freedom Front, is also planned for Sunday to discuss the emerging political situation.
Dangerous Situation Will Arrive If They Don't Quit: Former Lanka President
With the crisis worsening in Sri Lanka after protesters demand resignation of the President and the Prime Minister, former Sri Lanka President Maithripala Sirisena said that Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Ranil Wickremesinghe have no moral right to remain in power.
He said a "very dangerous situation" will arise if they don't quit immediately, NewsFirst quoted him as saying.
Sirisena who was in power from 2015-2019, made a 10-point proposals to address the political crisis in the island nation.
He said in order to have an all-party interim government, a National Executive or Leadership Council should be established consisting of all political parties represented in the Parliament.
Protesters Plan To Occupy Sri Lankan President, PM's House Until They Quit
Leaders of the Sri Lankan protest movement said they plan to occupy the residence of the President and the Prime Minister until they quit the office.
Playwright Ruwanthie de Chickera said at a news conference that "the President has to resign, the prime minister has to resign and the government has to go."
Yesterday, protesters broke into the President's official residence and set the Prime Minister's residence on fire as crisis worsened in Sri Lanka.
"Stand With People Of Lanka As They...": India On Protests
India responded to media queries on the situation in Sri Lanka and said, "India is Sri Lanka's closest neighbour and our two countries share deep civilizational bonds."
India said Sri Lanka occupies a central place in India's Neighbourhood First Policy and this year itself India provided an unprecedented support of over $3.8 Billion to Sri Lanka
Our response to media queries on the situation in Sri Lanka:https://t.co/w2uUTPRUia pic.twitter.com/3AUKlJiRTZ
- Arindam Bagchi (@MEAIndia) July 10, 2022
Don't Ignore The Cry Of People: Pope Francis' Appeal To Sri Lankan Authorities
Pope Francis appealed to Sri Lankan authorities to not "ignore the cry of poor and the needs of the people".
He expressed solidarity with the people Sri Lanka who are suffering from a food and fuel crisis. The island nation is now under a facing a serious political turmoil when a huge crowd of protesters broke police barricades and entered the President's house, forcing him to flee his official residence.
Russian Aggression May Have Contributed Crisis In Sri Lanka: US
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Russian aggression in Ukraine may have triggered a crisis in Sri Lanka.
He called on Russia to let an estimated 20 million tonnes of grain leave Ukraine. Read More
Lankans' Awe And Anger At President's Home
Sri Lankans roamed through a ransacked presidential palace on Sunday as calm returned to the commercial capital, Colombo, a day after protesters barged into the building and forced President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to announce his resignation.
The political chaos could complicate efforts to pull Sri Lanka out of its worst economic crisis in seven decades, triggered by a severe shortage of foreign currency that has stalled the imports of essentials like fuel, food and medicines. Read More
Sri Lanka's main Opposition parties are expected to hold a special party meeting on Sunday to forge consensus on establishing an all-party government amid the unprecedented political turmoil as President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe offered to resign after protesters occupied their homes protesting over the mishandling the economy.
"No Refugee Crisis Right Now": S Jaishankar On Unrest In Sri Lanka
Union External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday said the Indian government has always been supportive of Sri Lanka and it was "trying to help" the neighbouring country through its present economic crisis and made it clear that there was "no refugee crisis right now". Read More
India hands 44,000 MT of urea to crisis-hit Sri Lanka
India on Sunday handed more than 44,000 metric tonnes of urea under a credit line extended to crisis-ridden Sri Lanka, as part of New Delhi's ongoing efforts to support the island nation's farmers and help bolster bilateral cooperation for food security, the Indian High Commission said.
Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Gopal Baglay met Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amaraweera to inform him about the arrival of more than 44,000 metric tonnes of urea.
Minister Dhamika Perara resigns
Dhammika Perera today stepped down as Minister of Investment Promotion. He is the fourth minister to resign from the cabinet after Harin Fernando, Manusha Nanayakkara and Bandula Gunawardena in the last two days.
Dhammika Perera today stepped down as Minister of Investment Promotion. He is the fourth minister to resign from the cabinet after Harin Fernando, Manusha Nanayakkara and Bandula Gunawardena in the last two days.
Three arrested for setting fire to Prime Minister's Residence
Sri Lankan police on Sunday arrested three people for setting Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's private residence on fire a day earlier, amidst massive anti-government protests, media reports said.
A group of irate protesters on Saturday entered Wickremesinghe's private residence at Cambridge Place here and set it on fire amid a massive public protest in the country over the unprecedented economic crisis.
Lanka President's Whereabouts Not Known, Protesters Still At His Residence
The anti-government protesters in Sri Lanka on Sunday continued to occupy the residences of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe, a day after they barged into the premises and set on fire one of the buildings protesting over the nation's severe economic crisis even as the island nation is still in the dark about the embattled President's whereabouts. Read Here
Protesters find millions of rupees from Gotabaya Rajapaksa's house: Report
Protesters who stormed President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's house on Saturday amid the country's worst economic crisis claimed to have recovered a large sum of money from the mansion, local media reported.
According to Sri Lanka's daily newspaper, Daily Mirror, it was reported that the recovered money was handed over to the security units.
Several dramatic videos have been doing the rounds on social media after Saturday's upheaval where thousands of protesters stormed his official residence in the capital of Colombo, forcing him to flee to an unknown location.
US Urges Sri Lanka Leaders To Work "Quickly" To Achieve Economic Stability
The United States on Sunday urged Sri Lankan leaders to act quickly to seek long-term solutions after the president was chased from his residence and announced his resignation. Any new government should "work quickly to identify and implement solutions that will achieve long-term economic stability and address the Sri Lankan people's discontent," a State Department spokesperson said. Read More
"Deeply Concerned": IMF Closely Monitoring Sri Lanka Situation
The IMF on Sunday said that it was closely monitoring the ongoing developments in Sri Lanka and hoped that the political crisis will be resolved soon to allow for the resumption of dialogue on an IMF-supported programme in the cash-starved country. Read More
How Sri Lankan Protests Unfolded
A deep financial crisis has left Sri Lanka struggling to pay for imports of food, medicine and fuel and brought thousands of protesters on to the streets. On Saturday, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa told the speaker of parliament he would step down next week. Read More
