Turmoil in Sri Lanka: President Gotabaya Rajapaksa resigns after protests over economic crisis. major updates

Sri Lanka has been facing a deep political and economic crisis for the past few months and on Thursday President Gotabaya Rajapaksa submitted his resignation to Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeverdhana, soon after arriving in Singapore from the Maldives. The 73-year-old leader fled to the Maldives on Wednesday after protesters occupied his palace over the weekend.

The people of Sri Lanka, an island nation, are facing months of power outages, acute food, and fuel shortages, and galloping inflation in the worst recession in decades.

The protesters had demanded the resignation of Rajapaksa, whose government has been blamed for the unprecedented economic crisis that has brought the country to its knees. Rajapaksa had announced his resignation on Saturday, July 13, after thousands of protesters stormed his official residence.

Sri Lanka is now a bankrupt country, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said last week.

Let’s take a look at how the crisis unfolded in the cash-strapped Sri Lanka:

• State of emergency on 1st April Rajapaksa declared a temporary state of emergency and empowered security forces to arrest and detain suspects after violent protests.
• Cabinet resignation on April 3 Most of Sri Lanka’s cabinet ministers resigned at a late night meeting, leaving Rajapaksa and his brother Prime Minister Mahinda in isolation.
• President loses majority on April 5: President Rajapaksa’s troubles escalated when Finance Minister Ali Sabri resigned a day after being given the position. Rajapaksa lost his parliamentary majority as former allies urged him to resign. He lifted the state of emergency.
• First casualties on 19 April: One protester was killed, the first casualty in months-long anti-government protests.
• Violence on 9th May: Peaceful protesters camping outside the President’s office in Colombo were attacked by a mob of government loyalists. Nine people were killed and several others were injured in the attacks. Mahinda resigned as prime minister and was rescued by soldiers after thousands of protesters stormed his Colombo residence. After this, Wickremesinghe took his place.
• Shooting orders issued on 10 May: The Defense Ministry ordered soldiers to shoot at sight anyone involved in looting or “injury to life”.
• ‘Humanitarian Emergency’ on June 10: The United Nations warned that Sri Lanka was facing a serious humanitarian crisis. The United Nations said that more than three-quarters of the population has reduced their food intake due to severe food shortages in the beleaguered country.
• Raid on President’s residence on July 9: President Rajapaksa escaped with the help of security forces from his official residence in the country’s capital Colombo shortly before protesters stormed the building. He was taken to some unknown place. Photos from inside the house showed protesters jumping into pools, roaming the garden and exploring other areas of the residence. Wickremesinghe’s residence was torched and police said he and his family were not at the scene. Rajapaksa later offered to resign from the presidency on July 13, Speaker Abhay Vardhan said in a televised statement.
• President’s Exodus on July 13: The president said Rajapaksa, accompanied by his wife and two bodyguards, fled to the Maldives in an Air Force jet and appointed PM Wickremesinghe as the acting president. After the President’s departure, the Sri Lankan government declared an indefinite emergency.
• Rajapaksa’s resignation on 14 July: Rajapaksa left the Maldives for Singapore, with the city-state’s government saying he was on a “private visit” and had not sought asylum. Upon arrival, he emailed his resignation as president to the president, according to the Sri Lankan president’s office. The resignation was sent to the Attorney General of Sri Lanka for legal consideration before taking any decision on it.

(with inputs from AFP)

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