The crisis in Sri Lanka; Demonstrations of thousands of students protesting the economic situation.
Thousands of Sri Lankan students gathered in front of the Prime Minister’s house to demand his resignation due to the deteriorating economic situation.
Thousands of Sri Lankan students gathered in front of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa’s home on Sunday to demand her resignation amid deteriorating economic conditions.
Months of long blackouts, unprecedented inflation and severe food and fuel shortages have caused public discontent in Sri Lanka, which is struggling with its worst recession since independence in 1948, according to AFP.
During Sunday’s demonstration, student leaders crossed the fence of the Rajapaksa complex in the city of Colombo, despite obstacles obstructed by police. “You can block the way, but you can not stop our struggle,” said one student leader as he stood on the walls.
Police said Rajapaksa was not there at the time and the crowd left peacefully.
For more than two weeks, thousands of protesters have been gathering daily in front of the Sri Lankan president’s office, where Mahinda’s younger brother is staying, demanding the resignation of the two men. The nationwide demonstrations saw crowds attempt to raid the homes and offices of government figures.
In recent days, a man has been shot dead by police on a road in Rambucana, the first death since protests last month.
Sri Lanka’s economic collapse was felt after the Corona virus epidemic, which destroyed vital tourism revenues and remittances. It is unable to finance essential imports, resulting in shortages of rice, milk powder, sugar, wheat flour and medicine, while staggering inflation has exacerbated the problems.
Unemployed power companies have imposed long daily blackouts on people, while long queues form around service stations every morning as people queue for a small supply of gasoline.
Sri Lankan Finance Minister Ali Sabri, who is in Washington to negotiate International Monetary Fund funding, warned on Friday that Sri Lanka’s economic situation was likely to worsen.
