Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Tuesday, April 5, 2022 late night withdrew the state of emergency he had declared on April 1 immediately and said he had withdrawn the Emergency Rule Ordinance which gave the security forces greater power to prevent any disruption in the country. Despite public anger against the Rajapaksa family, President Gotabaya will not resign, Chief Government Whip and Highways Minister Johnston Fernando asserted Wednesday. “May I remind you that 6.9 million people voted for the President. As a government, we are clearly saying the president will not resign under any circumstances “We will face this” he said.
Government loses majority in parliament and Finance minister resign
India’s southern neighbor, Sri Lanka, is in dire financial straits that it has not seen since independence. Fuel, food, and other basic necessities are depleted of an island population of 22 million. Sri Lanka now faces a 13-hour power outage, public transport disruption, 17% inflation and the aftermath of civil unrest.
The protests were aimed at getting President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to control the Sri Lankan economy since he took office in November 2019, and things went so smoothly that all 26 cabinet ministers resigned and the ruling coalition lost most of it in parliament.
Ali Sabry resigns one day after being sworn in by the president. Ali Sabry, who was sworn in on Monday and replaced his younger brother Rajapaksa Basil, would be part of a team that would oversee the country’s debt recovery – which is crucial to gaining support from the International Monetary Fund. No official reasons were given immediately for his resignation. His departure is in line with the tendency of government officials and politicians to distance themselves from the powerful Rajapaksa family as they face growing public outrage over the now-inflating inflation in Asia. Lawmakers want Rajapaksa to resign from parliament.
Declare Health Emergency
Dozens of doctors, some in their blue scrubs, Wednesday stood in protest opposite the national hospital in the commercial capital, Colombo. Some held a banner saying: “Strengthen people’s right to live. Declare a health emergency.”
Malaka Samararathna, who works at the state-run Apeksha Hospital which treats tens of thousands of cancer patients from across the country every year, said not only drugs but even chemicals used in testing are running short.
Share stocks are Rising in Sri Lanka
Sri Lankan stocks rose 1% on Thursday, taking a three-day losing line, which helped it gain profits from industrial and financial stocks.
- Conglomerates LOLC Holdings (LOLC.CM) and Expolanka Holdings (EXPO.CM) were the highest boosters in the index, adding 5.3% and 2.8%, respectively.
- The CSE All-Share (.CSE) index ended 1.04% higher by 12,207.46 points.
Sri Lankan shares broke their six-day losing streak on Tuesday, as President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s ruling coalition lost its majority in parliament amid growing unrest over the country’s worst economic crisis in decades. At the close of trade, the CSE All-Share index settled 5.99% higher at 8,738.08 points.
The Rajapaksa government was left in a minority in parliament on Tuesday, after at least 41 Sri Lankan lawmakers walked out of the ruling coalition.
The names of 41 MPs who will be leaving the coalition have been announced by party leaders. They are now independent, leaving the Rajapaksa government with less than 113 members needed to keep the majority in a 225-member house.
Voting has not yet been announced, although the Rajapaksa sub-government may find it difficult to make decisions. Independent members of parliament can, however, continue to support the government’s proposals in the house.
“There is a chronic shortage of basic necessities including fuel and cooking gas. Hospitals are close to closing because of the lack of medicines,” Maitripala Sirisena, a Sri Lanka Freedom Party leader who withdrew from supporting the Rajapaksa coalition, told parliament. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was reshuffling Sri Lanka’s diplomatic missions because of “the economic situation and foreign currency challenges the country is facing”. “Failure to ensure continuous and adequate access to essential medicines will lead to the collapse of the entire health system,” he told the Department of Health in a note.”This will create a life-threatening situation for our citizens who are already facing a crisis that has never been seen before.”
READ ALSO: Government of India promoting the High-Tech Farming in Agricultural Services
