News agency Reuters quoted two defence ministry sources saying President Rajapaksa was moved out of the official residence on Friday for his safety ahead of the planned rally over the weekend.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe called for an emergency meeting of political party leaders and requested the speaker to summon parliament.
In one of the largest anti-government demonstrations in the crisis-hit island nation, thousands of protesters marched down the street’s of Colombo’s government district, shouting slogans against the president and tearing down barricades, news agency Reuters reported. Police deployed tear gas and water cannons, but were unable to quell the unrest, Sri Lanka’s Daily Mail reported.
BREAKING:
President of Sri Lanka, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, has declared his country bankrupt due to the energy crisis.
Masses of protesters have laid siege to the presidential palace.
The president has fled.
Russia’s war will throw more countries into chaos pic.twitter.com/cr97qswlVv
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) July 9, 2022
Rajapaksa is an unpopular figure in Sri Lanka, where a severe shortage of foreign currency has left the country unable to pay for essential imports, including fuel, food, medicines and other vital resources. Since March, the country has been witnessing largely peaceful protests demanding Rajapaksa’s resignation.
Police use water canon and tear gas to disperse the protesters in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Saturday, July 9, 2022. (AP Photo/Amitha Thennakoon)
In several cities, hundreds of people have been lining up for hours to buy fuel and food, often clashing with police and military officials while they wait.
Aragalaya 2.0 : Thousands of protesters are currently heading to Colombo in various modest of transport, braving fuel crisis, demanding President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s resignation. A container on the road bringing a group of protesters pic.twitter.com/aIJ3K9CJYp
— Azzam Ameen (@AzzamAmeen) July 9, 2022
Saturday’s protest saw tens of thousands of demonstrators from across the country entering the capital city carrying black and national flags and chanting “Goa go home.” They marched towards a police and military security cordon surrounding key buildings, including the President’s House and Finance Ministry, Reuters reported.
The renewed protest comes at a time when the cash-strapped country has stopped receiving fuel shipments from abroad. This has led to schools closures and restricted essential services.
Protesters react as a tear gas shell fired by police lands next to them in Colombo on Saturday. (Photo: AP)
Last month, Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said the country’s economy has collapsed. He told lawmakers that the government’s negotiations with the International Monetary Fund have become “difficult” as they entered the talks as a bankrupt country, rather than a developing one.
“We are now participating in the negotiations as a bankrupt country. Therefore, we have to face a more difficult and complicated situation than previous negotiations,” Wickremesinghe said in parliament. “Due to the state of bankruptcy our country is in, we have to submit a plan on our debt sustainability to (the IMF) separately.”
Late on Friday, the police imposed a curfew across Colombo after thousands of university students were tear gassed while attempting to make their way toward Rajapaksa’s residence, Bloomberg reported. The lockdown was widely opposed by activists and lawyers, who alleged that it was illegal and urged protestors to continue their peaceful rallies. Earlier this week, a court rejected the government’s request to ban protestors from holding rallies near the president’s official residence, according to Bloomberg.
Gotabaya has managed to evade demands for his resignation and instead appointed his long-time opponent Ranil Wickremesinghe as prime minister in May after the widespread protests first turned violent.
