Sri Lanka Economic Crisis Top News July 11th: Sri Lanka is in the middle of a shakedown especially considering the protests by people who have been grappling with the worst economic crisis in history. And with the ongoing protests, it looks like the protestors will continue to occupy the residences of president Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, until the two quit office. In latest news, Rajapaksa has informed Wickremesinghe that he will resign as previously announced on Wednesday, July 13th. Here are some fresh updates from Sri Lanka that you should know about:
Sri Lanka’s prime minister’s office has said that the entire cabinet will resign once an agreement is reached to form an all-party government. The office said that all the ministers who participated in the discussion were of the opinion that as soon as there is a deal on unity government, they are ready to hand over their responsibilities to that government.
Meanwhile, the Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka has for the second time dismissed the media reports which suggested that New Delhi is sending its troops to Colombo.
According to an ANI report, the protestors were seen throwing out trash from the Sri Lankan Presidential Palace in Colombo. “We feel responsible to clean because it’s a public area… we believe our generation should change the system. We’ve given a message to President Rajapaksa & should be calm now,” a youth was quoted as saying by ANI.
Sri Lanka’s Opposition parties will resume talks on Monday to form an all-party interim government after the president and prime minister offered to resign following the protests where thousands of people barged the leaders’ homes over their mishandling of the country’s worst economic crisis. The meeting is scheduled to be held at 2.00 pm (local time) under the chairmanship of Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena to discuss the future political affairs of the country, the Colombo Page reported.
Meanwhile, India’s Minister for External Affairs S Jaishankar acknowledged that the crisis in Sri Lanka was “very serious.” He said that India’s focus is on helping the country emerge from the fiscal turmoil. “India stands with the people of Sri Lanka as they seek to realise their aspirations for prosperity and progress through democratic means and values, established institutions and constitutional framework,” External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, reported PTI.
India has provided 44,000 tonnes of urea to Sri Lanka for meeting the domestic requirements in the current and next sowing seasons, Union Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Sunday. The minister tweeted that 44,000 tonnes of urea fertilizer provided by India under the Line of Credit reached Colombo and handed over to the Sri Lanka government. “It will help to meet farming requirements in current & next cropping seasons,” Mandaviya said.India has time and again proved to be a true friend of Sri Lankan people in their need, the minister said.
In some dramatic turn of events, protesters occupying the residence of Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa held a mock Cabinet meeting on Sunday and “discussions with the IMF” to ridicule the government led by him. The protesters discussed the arson attack on Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s house. They held a mock IMF discussion involving a foreigner who had visited the premises along with the other protestors. The public flocked to the Presidential Secretariat, President’s House and Temple Trees, the official residence of the prime minister after they were taken over by protestors on Saturday.
According to a PTI report, leading strategic affairs experts in India on Sunday suggested that the economic situation is unlikely to improve dramatically just because President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has decided to step down, paving the way for the formation of an all-party government. “This was becoming inevitable. The popular sentiment had turned against the Rajapaksas. They lost their political capital,” Ambassador Ashok K Kantha told PTI. Kantha said Sri Lanka does not have the luxury of time as the economic crisis is “unprecedented” and it will not go away just because Gotabaya Rajapaksa is stepping down.
(With Agency Inputs)
