Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka's sports minister and the president's nephew, Namal Rajapaksa, has resigned from his position amid growing public outrage over the country's ...

Under the decree, the president can authorize detentions, seizure of property and search of premises. So we came here for her and the rest of the children.” “What the Rajapaksas have been doing all these years was to divide the people along ethnic and religious lines. The country's usable foreign reserves are said to be less that $400 million, according to experts, and it has nearly $7 billion in foreign debt obligations for this year alone. For several months, Sri Lankans have endured long lines to buy fuel, foods and medicines, most of which comes from abroad and is paid for in hard currency. In addition to brothers being president and prime minister, two other brothers are ministers of finance and irrigation. Opposition lawmakers were marching Sunday protesting against the president's move to impose a curfew and state of emergency amid a worsening economic crisis. Near Colombo, students demonstrated and dispersed while armed soldiers and police stopped opposition lawmakers from marching to the iconic Independence Square. “In this country it is so difficult,” said Inoma Fazil, a fashion designer who brought her 18-month-old daughter to a protest in Rajagiriya, a Colombo suburb. Sri Lankan army soldiers stand guard preventing opposition protesters enter the Independence square during a curfew in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Sunday, April 3, 2022. Sri Lanka's political power is concentrated in the Rajapaksa family. Why are you protecting a government like this?”

State of emergency imposed on Friday with country facing severe shortages of food, fuel and other essentials.

Diesel shortages have sparked outrage across Sri Lanka in recent days, causing protests at empty pumps, and electricity utilities have imposed 13-hour blackouts to conserve fuel. A junior party has also hinted it may leave the ruling coalition within a week. Private media outlets reported that the chief of Sri Lanka’s internet regulator resigned after the ban order went into effect. “I will never condone the blocking of social media,” said Namal, the country’s sport minister. “They should know we are still a democracy.” “We can’t allow a military takeover,” he said.

Sri Lanka's cabinet offered to resign en masse following street protests over soaring living costs, escalating a brewing political crisis in a nation ...

The entire Sri Lankan Cabinet also has handed over letters to Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa offering to resign from their positions due to the economic ...

Soldiers manned checkpoints in Colombo to enforce a curfew imposed to curb public outrage triggered by an economic crisis.

"This is unacceptable," said opposition leader Eran Wickramaratne leaning over the barricades. "These students have come out in defiance of the curfew and police have fired tear gas to disperse them," said Kiriella, from the opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya party. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa declared a state of emergency on Friday as the Indian Ocean island nation grapples with rising prices, shortages of essentials and rolling power cuts.

All 26 cabinet ministers aside from the president and the prime minister quit as unrest over the country's worst financial crisis in decades continues.

A critical lack of foreign currency has left Sri Lanka struggling to service its ballooning $51bn foreign debt, with the pandemic torpedoing vital revenue from tourism and remittances. Solidarity protests were staged elsewhere in the world over the weekend, including in the Australian city of Melbourne, home to a large Sri Lankan diaspora. It came with the country under a state of emergency imposed after a crowd attempted to storm the president’s home in the capital Colombo, and a nationwide curfew in effect until Monday morning. Troops armed with automatic assault rifles moved to stop a protest by opposition lawmakers and hundreds of their supporters attempting to march to the capital’s Independence Square. The move clears the way for the president to appoint a new cabinet on Monday – and some of those stepping down may be reappointed. Sri Lanka’s entire cabinet aside from the president and his sibling prime minister resigned from their posts on Sunday as the ruling political clan seeks to resolve a mounting economic crisis, with a social media blackout failing to halt another day of anti-government demonstrations.

Government coalition parties are demanding a caretaker cabinet be appointed, amid mounting public outrage over the nation's food, fuel and medicine ...

Please think of the people who are suffering. He also turned to China and India for loans, while he appealed to people to limit the use of fuel and electricity and “extend their support to the country.” The European Union urged Sri Lanka’s government to safeguard the “democratic rights of all concerns, including right to free assembly and dissent, which has to be peaceful.” Why are you protecting a government like this?” In past years, emergency powers have allowed the military to arrest and detain suspects without warrants, but the terms of the current powers are not yet clear. "This is unacceptable," said opposition leader Eran Wickramaratne, referring to the curfew and other restrictions.

Sri Lanka Economic Crisis: Sri Lanka's entire cabinet aside from President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his sibling Prime MinisterMahinda Rajapaksa resigned from ...

The son of Sri Lanka's prime minister resigned from the cabinet on Monday and several other members have offered to do so, a minister said, just days after ...

The country's expenditure has exceeded its income under successive governments while its production of tradable goods and services has been inadequate. People attend a protest against Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in a residential area after the government imposed a curfew following a clash between police and protestors near the President's residence during a protest amid the country's economic crisis, in Colombo, Sri Lanka April 3, 2022. People attend a protest against Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in a residential area after the government imposed a curfew following a clash between police and protestors near the President's residence during a protest amid the country's economic crisis, in Colombo, Sri Lanka April 3, 2022.

Sri Lanka's central bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal said he is resigning from the post less than seven months into the role amid the worst economic and ...

However, while advancing the necessary demands for the development of the class struggle against the Sri Lankan ruling class, the Socialist Equality Party ...

If Sri Lanka’s resources are to be mobilized in the interests of society, the wealth of the capitalist ruling class must be impounded through the revolutionary political mobilization of the working class and the rural masses. The central lesson of the Arab Spring is the pivotal role of revolutionary leadership. As these committees grow and prove themselves in struggle, rallying ever wider sections of the urban and rural masses behind them, they will become organs of independent working-class political power, in opposition to the parliament and the repressive institutions of the capitalist elite. In opposing the social devastation now being imposed on Sri Lanka, the working class is challenging not just the Rajapakse clique and their Sri Lanka People’s Front government or the Sri Lankan bourgeoisie, but global capital and imperialism. The social-political crisis in Sri Lanka is an advanced expression of the crisis engulfing world capitalism. Health care and education must not be bled white to satiate the vampires of Wall Street, London and Tokyo. That is why the SEP fights to turn workers in Sri Lanka toward the growing global working-class upsurge. Therefore, the intervention of the party is based on an international strategy. These measures and the deployment of large numbers of security forces on the streets of the capital, Colombo, failed to prevent tens of thousands from joining protests Saturday in Colombo’s suburbs and at university campuses. Starting early Sunday the authorities blocked communication on major social media platforms and messaging apps, which are increasingly being used to organize anti-government protests independent of the opposition parties. The mass protests will have a consequential impact on the future development of the international class struggle. Immense social anger over the soaring price of food and petrol, hours-long electricity power cuts, an acute shortage of medical supplies and, more generally, the ever more intolerable conditions of life for working people has erupted in mass protests across the island country.

Sri Lanka's president offered to share power with the opposition on Monday as protests escalated across the country demanding his resignation over worsening ...

Colombo (AFP) – Sri Lanka's president offered to share power with the opposition on Monday as protests escalated across the country demanding his resignation over worsening shortages of food, fuel and medicines. Colombo (AFP) – Sri Lanka's president offered to share power with the opposition on Monday as protests escalated across the country demanding his resignation over worsening shortages of food, fuel and medicines. Sri Lanka is in the grip of an unprecedented shortage of food, fuel and other essentials

Opposition lawmakers and people angered by the government's handling of Sri Lanka's worst economic crisis have marched to denounce the president's move to ...

Sri Lanka has blocked access to many social media platforms in an attempt to prevent further protests blaming the government for the worsening economic crisis. Sri Lanka faces huge debt obligations and dwindling foreign reserves, and its struggle to pay for imports has caused a lack of basic supplies. Sri Lanka has blocked access to many social media platforms in an attempt to prevent further protests blaming the government for the worsening economic crisis. Internet users in most parts of Sri Lanka were unable to access Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, WhatsApp and other social media platforms on Sunday. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena, File) Apparently due to the growing criticism, access to social media was later restored. Internet users in most parts of Sri Lanka were unable to access Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, WhatsApp and other social media platforms on Sunday. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena, File)

Sri Lanka's collapse is front of mind for many. Protesters fed up with crippling shortages of essential food and fuel items are on the streets, ...

- On April 3 protesters in Colombo, Sri Lanka's largest city, held numerous small, peaceful demonstrations about the severe economic crisis, defying a nationwide curfew. A worsening crisis mutes the impact of disjointed financial lifelines, including a $1.5 billion currency swap from China in December and rice and diesel shipments from India. The IMF notes that policies required to reduce debt to sustainable levels are neither economically nor politically feasible. It's a reminder of the political implications of high prices. Food inflation hit an eye-watering 30.2% in March. The currency’s 40% depreciation against the U. S. dollar in one month, including a central bank managed devaluation, is blowing out leverage ratios: Public debt estimated by the International Monetary Fund at 120% of GDP is perhaps some 40 percentage points more than might be deemed sustainable, guesses Citi. read more Protesters fed up with crippling shortages of essential food and fuel items are on the streets, prompting multiple members of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa’s cabinet to offer to resign late on Sunday. Social unrest will probably accelerate a restructuring of some $44 billion of international sovereign debt. MUMBAI, April 4 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Sri Lanka’s collapse is front of mind for many.

While Sri Lanka's Cabinet of Ministers, in the wake of its worst economic crisis, have resigned with immediate effect, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has ...

India has also invested in areas of tourism, real estate, manufacturing, communications, petroleum retail etc in the country. India has been one of the largest trading partners of Sri Lanka, and one of the top tourism sources. In addition to the credit lines, India this year extended a $400-million currency swap and a $500-million credit line for fuel purchases to Sri Lanka. With the resignation of the Cabinet of Ministers, the economic crisis has also turned into a political one. Sri Lanka has sought an additional credit line of $1.5 billion, on top of the $1 billion support that was extended by India to help pay for critical imports. It was a crisis a long time in the making.