Party leaders have decided to elect a new President on July 20 through a vote in Parliament in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution, Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardhane said today.
He said it was decided to convene Parliament this Friday (15) and inform the House that there is a vacancy for the Presidency according to the provisions of the Constitution.
Nominations for the presidency will be called for on July 19 and a vote will be taken on July 20 to elect a new President,” he said.
Party Leaders also decided to form an all-party government under the new President and take steps to continue the supply of essential services.
United Arab Emirates carrier flydubai has suspended operations to Colombo in Sri Lanka until further notice, a spokesperson for the budget airline said on Monday.
“We will continue to closely monitor the situation on the ground in Sri Lanka. Passengers who have booked to travel on these flights will be contacted and offered a refund,” the spokesperson told Reuters by email.
Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways did not follow suit, but said that some of its services from Colombo would stop at India’s Cochin International Airport to refuel before continuing onwards to Abu Dhabi starting from July 14.
“Etihad continues to closely monitor the situation in Sri Lanka,” a spokesperson for the airline said.
Sri Lanka’s president and the cabinet will resign to make way for a unity government, the prime minister’s office said on Monday, after tens of thousands of people stormed the official residences of both men, enraged by the island’s worst economic crisis in decades.
Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa says that the mandate of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) government including the President and the Prime Minister is now over and that they are prepared to give leadership to the country.
Making a special statement today (11), he said that the opposition is ready to stabilize the country and to build the country’s economy.
They got together and finished destroying this beautiful motherland. We in the opposition are ready to stabilize the country and provide leadership to the programme of rebuilding the country’s economy.”
We will appoint a government led by a President and a Prime Minister. There is no alternative solution other than this,” Premadasa said.
He charged that if anyone in the parliament who opposes this tries to sabotage this attempt, they will see it as an act of treason.
We are ready to protect the motherland, give leadership to the motherland and to build the country’s economy. Victory to the motherland!”
Party leaders have reportedly decided to convene the Parliament on July 15 (Friday), following the President’s resignation.
SJB parliamentarian Ranjith Madduma Bandara said that nominations for the position of President will be accepted on July 18 (Monday) and that the President will be elected on July 20.
Speaking to reporters following the party leaders’ meeting at the parliament complex this evening (11), he said that the Parliament must be summoned and informed within 3 days after a president resigns.
He said that accordingly, the party leaders decided to convene Parliament on Friday (July 15), officially inform the House of the resignation and announce the nominations for the position before holding an election.
The date was set to receive the nominations for the presidency next Monday after the incumbent President resigns on the 13th, and that voting should be held within two days after accepting the nominations, he said.
He said a decision was reached to hold the election by next Wednesday (July 20). Accordingly, the date was set for the parliament to appoint a new president for this country on the 20th.”
COLOMBO, July 11 (Reuters) – Sri Lanka’s central bank governor signalled on Monday that he would stay in the job but warned that prolonged political instability in the country may delay progress on negotiations with the International Monetary Fund for a bailout package.
“Political instability might delay the progress we have been making so far,” Weerasinghe said of the talks with the IMF during an interview with Reuters in his office, where chants from protesters occupying the president’s house nearby could be heard.
“I would like to have a stable political administration, the sooner the better, for us to make progress, mainly on the programmes we are negotiating with the IMF, bridging finance and also to address shortages of fuel, gas and other things.”
Asked if he would continue to steer the central bank, Weerasinghe said: “I have the responsibility once I have been appointed to serve for (a) six-year term.”
He also said negotiations were on for a $1 billion swap with the Reserve Bank of India. Sri Lanka received a $400 million swap from India in January and $1.5 billion in two credit lines after that.<br /><br />”We have made a request for another $1 billion,” he said, adding the country was also in talks with India for an additional credit line of $500 million to import fuel.
Governor P. Nandalal Weerasinghe, who has been holding bailout talks with the IMF since taking office in April, had told reporters in May he could resign if there was no political stability in the island nation of 22 million that is facing its worst economic crisis in seven decades.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa plans to resign on Wednesday while Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has also offered to quit, without specifying a date, to make way for an all party government.
Since Nandalal Weerasinghe, took over, the central bank has raised interest rates twice, including by an unprecedented 700 basis points in April, as inflation touched a year-on-year record of 54.6% in June and could soar to 70% in the coming months.
The IMF said on Sunday it was hoping for a resolution to the political turmoil to allow a resumption of talks for a bailout package. The government said last week it would present a debt restructuring plan to the fund by the end of August, in a bid to win approval for a four-year funding programme.<br /><br />”At technical level we have almost agreed (with the IMF) but at policy level we need a higher-level commitment from a stable administration,” the governor said.
Sri Lanka suspended repayments on about $12 billion of foreign debt in April and it still had payments of nearly $21 billion due by the end of 2025.
Making a special statement this afternoon (11), the Prime Minister said that with the weak administrative system in the country, the economic crisis of this country can never be restored in a few days, and it will take at least a year to recover one step.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe says that he took over the country at a time when it was in a severe economic disaster.
He also said that even the International Monetary Fund has accepted that at least 04 years should be dedicated with long-term solutions.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe also says that he has not seen people suffering in gas and oil queues like this and expresses deep regret about it.
He said that he postponed all the meetings held on July 9th and stayed at home, and then the police asked him to leave the house as there was a possibility of disturbance.
Due to this, the Prime Minister stated that he and his wife left home in the evening.
At that time, the Prime Minister further mentioned that he came to know that his house had been set on fire.
The Prime Minister said that this house was the only one he had in Sri Lanka as well as abroad, and that it has now been burnt down, and he had agreed with his wife, Professor Maithri Wickramasinghe, to donate all the valuable books collected over time to the Royal College as well as the oldest Portuguese works to the University of Peradeniya.
He also said that there he never stated that he will not resign and all what he said was that he will resign as soon as a government is formed since there were crucial meetings regarding food, oil and gas that the government had to be involved including IMF.
However there were reports that he has says he will not resign and despite his repeated requests to correct this story it was not done and that people were asked to come to his house.
Anger and frustration may have prompted Sri Lankan protesters to storm Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s official residence. But the bottom line and the lesson from recent history like the Arab Spring countries where civil strife hasn’t abated is that Sri Lanka needs a functional government to get its act together, conduct negotiations with IMF and major nations, and restructure the economy to make it viable again. Continuing anarchy could lead to agencies and friendly countries interested in Sri Lanka’s revival developing cold feet.
Abhorrent actions like setting PM Ranil Wickremesinghe’s private home on fire don’t help the Lankan cause. Wickremesinghe had accepted an unenviable job, betting that his credentials could help smoothen negotiations and expedite lines of credit. Obviously, Lankan people have lost patience and want results immediately. The July 9 protests, coming exactly two months after the May 9 violence that unseated Mahinda Rajapaksa, are a warning to political parties to stop bickering and brainstorm the next course of action, including a unity government and fresh elections.
Negotiations with IMF must cross the hurdle of all creditors including China, which accounts for 15% of Sri Lanka’s external debt, agreeing to debt restructuring. As its nearest neighbour, India must keep generously helping in cash and kind. With inflation topping 50% and the Sri Lankan rupee crashing to 350 for a dollar, food and fuel shortages will worsen without a government in place. Sri Lanka’s strategic location in the Indian Ocean, through which a busy international shipping route also passes, must stir other nations also to offer more aid to the embattled country.
Not too long back Sri Lanka was South Asia’s brightest spot with high human development indices. But economic mismanagement threatens a regression, with schools shutting last week, and hospitals running out of medicines and supplies. Already, a chunk of shipping business is shifting to Indian ports as containers are wary of stopping in Sri Lanka. Austerity measures accompanying an IMF bailout will not be popular in a country spoon-fed on a steady diet of populism. However, there’s no other course left but belt-tightening and a peaceful transfer of power to a credible government that is allowed to work without being subjected to populist pressures. Otherwise, the pain can only deepen and Sri Lanka will struggle to attract tourism, trade and foreign investment as it once did.
The anarchic scenes in Sri Lanka are enough to make the blood of any world leader run cold. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s residence overrun by furious protesters. Crowds cavorting on his four-poster bed and in his swimming pool and gym. Sections of the Prime Minister’s home in flames.
This burning building not only serves as a symbolic funeral pyre for Rajapaksa’s government. It is a smouldering lesson for all governments in pursuing an economically illiterate green agenda at the expense of common sense.
Make no mistake: The roots of this chaos can be traced to Rajapaksa’s wrong-headed thinking on farming. In his 2019 manifesto, he pledged to transform Sri Lanka into an ‘organic’ nation within a decade – reducing and eventually banning chemical fertilisers, herbicides and insecticides.
It’s a pledge that would probably win votes here, too. Who wouldn’t, in principle, want a greener future, free of nasty chemicals? But the trade-off, as Sri Lanka learnt the hard way, is food production tumbling over a cliff. For them, going green meant going hungry.
In 2020, Covid struck, hollowing out Sri Lanka’s finances and causing its vital tourism industry to grind to a halt.
Any rational government would have abandoned the pledge to hobble agriculture with eco-strictures. But Rajapaksa doubled down, announcing in April last year a total and immediate ban on fertiliser, to the outrage of Sri Lanka’s two million farmers. He was lauded by the world’s pampered eco-dignitaries at Glasgow’s Cop26 conference that November, feted as a green torch-bearer for developing nations, receiving warm praise and Covid-friendly elbow bumps in every corridor.
Demonstrators protest inside the President’s House in Colombo after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled
People take a look at and a dip in a swimming pool at the President’s palace in Colombo on Sunday
A man plays a piano inside the Sri Lanka’s presidential palace after it was overrun by anti-government protesters
Sri Lanka security forces brutally attack anti-government protester
People wait to visit the President’s house on the day after demonstrators entered the building amid the country’s economic crisis
But what was spun as Rajapaksa’s green revolution was, in fact, cynical cost-cutting. With fewer tourists, Sri Lanka’s foreign cash reserves dried up. The government wasn’t prepared to use what little it had importing fertiliser. So it must have looked to Rajapaksa as a win-win: eco-credentials burnished and the treasury saving money.
There was only one problem: farmers couldn’t produce the yields they needed.
Sri Lanka feeds itself with rice. In the six months following the fertiliser ban, domestic production collapsed by 20 per cent, while prices rose 50 per cent. The tea crop was also devastated: the country’s most important export, and from which the lost revenue outweighed any savings made by not importing fertilisers.
What started as a dream that Prince Charles, with his organic Duchy estate, would surely approve of turned into a sorry mess of over-tilled soils, empty supermarket shelves and the hungry bellies of Sri Lanka’s poorest.
Selling your country as ‘organic’ appeals to visitors jetting in from Islington and Hollywood to enjoy lush scenery in five-star retreats – and assuage their guilt about flying thousands of miles. But today, the misery it inflicted on Sri Lanka’s people can be read in the smoke signals billowing from the presidential palace.
And let me be clear: this is not some abstract crisis taking place far away. Similar chaos looms in the West. In many countries, the rock of the ‘green agenda’ is meeting the hard place of economic reality. Farmers in Italy, Germany and Poland have been objecting with increasing anger to the destructive green pressure inflicted by their governments.
A man lies in the garden as people visit the President’s house on the day after demonstrators entered the building
Inquisitive visitors try out the bed at the Sri Lankan President’s official residence that was stormed by protestors
The biggest tinderbox is the Netherlands, one of the biggest meat exporters in the EU. This should be a point of pride for PM Mark Rutte at a time of world food shortage and rocketing prices. Instead, because meat production typically uses fertiliser, Rutte sees Holland’s success in this field as a stain on his green ambition.
Amsterdam has pledged to halve the use of nitrogen compounds in animal manure and ammonia fertilisers by 2030, requiring a 30 per cent reduction in livestock. Dutch farmers are understandably apoplectic and have sprayed manure over government buildings in protest. A confrontation last week in Friesland saw police firing warning shots and several arrested.
You still think green-inspired anarchy is confined to the developing world? If you push the people to the point of hunger, they revolt. Politicians the world over, captivated by the dream of a glorious green future, will do well to heed these dire warnings.
Sri Lanka protest mob force president to quit
Mail Foreign Service
Cramming on to the grand staircase, diving into the swimming pool and joining in a piano singalong – these are Sri Lankan protesters after storming the house of their president.
The raucous weekend uprising was enough to force the resignation of Sri Lanka’s president and prime minister, as months of frustration brought on by an unprecedented economic crisis finally boiled over.
At the core of the catastrophe was president Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s ban on imported fertilisers to force a switch to purely organic farming. The policy backfired spectacularly as farming yields collapsed. Mr Rajapaksa’s residence in Colombo was invaded after tens of thousands had gathered outside to protest. Some enjoyed pillow fights in the presidential bedrooms or games of cricket down lengthy corridors, while others tried out the well-equipped gym.
A few, meanwhile, looked like they may have raided the drinks cabinet as they were spotted snoozing on the lawns in the next morning. The president (pictured), whose corrupt rule and eccentric policies have been blamed for bringing Sri Lanka’s financial collapse, had refused to stand down but was left with no option once his home was occupied. The protesters say they will not leave until he actually leaves office, which he has pledged to do on Wednesday. In the meantime, he has taken refuge in a boat offshore.
Protestors who forcibly entered the Sri Lankan President’s official residence seated at the building’s conference hall
People who stormed the President Secretariat are seen in Colombo on Sunday as Gotabaya Rajapaksa announced his resignation
The prime minister’s home, meanwhile, was set on fire by invading protesters. In response, Ranil Wickremesinghe also resigned, but said he will not actually leave office until an alternative government is formed.
Opposition parties were meeting yesterday to thrash out an agreement that may allow them to govern before new elections are held. The International Monetary Fund, which has been in talks with the Sri Lankan government over a possible £2.5 billion bailout, said it was monitoring events closely.
The country’s worst economic crisis in seven decades also saw a severe shortage of foreign currency – blamed on past corruption and the collapse of tourism through Covid – that has stalled imports of food, fuel and medicines.
An all-party govt may lack political legitimacy to steer the nation out of economic collapse
Since the last three months, nationwide protests in Sri Lanka have escalated against the crippling shortages of essentials, double-digit food and fuel inflation and long power cuts, among other privations. The groundswell of discontent spilled over into a spiral of arson against the rule of the Rajapaksas with protestors storming the official residence of president Gotabaya Rajapaksa and setting fire to the private residence of prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. Earlier in May, Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned as premier and fled to the safety of a naval base in Trincomalee, a port city on the northeastern coast. The president and PM are expected to resign on Wednesday, paving the way for an all-party government to steer the nation out of its worst political-economic crisis since Independence in 1948. The big question is whether this will quell the popular anger against the Rajpakasas and the political class. Political uncertainty is the last thing the island nation of 22 million people needs if there is to be light at the end of a period of darkness.
A functioning government is required at the earliest for Sri Lanka to stem its economic woes through a bailout package with the International Monetary Fund. Sri Lanka hopes for a Rapid Finance Instrument facility as well as an Extended Fund Facility to overcome its balance of payments crisis, which has left it with usable foreign reserves of only $50 million to pay for fuel, food and other essentials. Not so long ago, it suspended international bond payments. With a $50 billion foreign debt, the island nation owes around $8 billion in debt repayments this year. A debt sustainability report for the IMF is expected to be finalised shortly.
The director of the World Food Programme is also likely to visit the nation this week—which is extremely important as international aid agencies have said that one-third of the population face hunger as food supplies have run out and living standards squeezed by consumer price inflation running at 54.6% in June. Given the gravity of the economic cr isis, a new government thus should be in office to engage with the IMF and WFP. Bilateral lenders will withhold further assistance pending the outcome of the IMF package. The World Bank has also stated that unless an adequate macroeconomic policy framework is in place, it does not plan to offer new financing to Sri Lanka.
As a neighbour, India is bound to be concerned by the turmoil in Sri Lanka. India has been generous in extending around $3.5 billion in economic assistance so far this year, including a $400-million RBI currency swap, $500-million loan deferment and lines of credit for importing fuel, food and medicines, which have already been used up. India has firmly stated that it will always be guided by the best interests of the people of Sri Lanka expressed through democratic processes” and will do what it can to assist the country to overcome hardships. The best interest of the island nation indeed lies in the formation of a representative all-party government to address the economic crisis that impacts all of them. All bets are off if this also appears challenging due to the fragmented political opposition which does not have the numbers in Parliament. Then there is no alternative to early elections. Unfortunately, there are no quick fixes for Sri Lanka’s problems.
Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala), July 11 (ANI): External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on July 10 called the economic crisis in Sri Lanka a “serious” matter and highlighted India’s help to the island nation. Addressing media persons, Jaishankar said, “The Sri Lankan crisis is a serious matter. It is something which has been built over a period of time. Prime Minister Modi has a policy called ‘Neighbourhood First.’ We try and support our neighbours in a way which meets their requirements.” “We had given Sri Lanka a line of credit, which has kept essential commodities flowing to them for the past several months. We have also provided them a line of credit for the purchase of fuel. This year alone, we have pledged USD 3.8 billion in support to Sri Lanka,” he added.
Explained: What Happens When A Country Goes Bankrupt? Sri Lanka is in the midst of a rising financial and humanitarian catastrophe, with predictions that it could dec…
The country is going bankrupt.” In truth, that is a false assertion.
Ranil Wickremesinghe, as a veteran politician, as the Prime Minister, was Totally Irresponsible to declare Sti Lanka is bankrupt.
He should have known better than to state that publicly to bring the “Fear Factor”. This was Criminal!
Ranil accepted the job as PM to re-enter Temple Trees and to gloat on the privileged position.
Why did he volunteer to be PM?
I might add, as a Roman Catholic, Cardinal Ranjith should keep himself out of politics! His current reputation as the leader of the Sri Lankan Catholic Church is blemished & tarnished.
When one views the Sri Lankan Law Makers, the country was totally under the control of the Rajapaksa Clan.
Rajapaksa Family made Sri Lanka into Rajapaksa Land!
If anyone should be held responsible for the demise of this beautiful “Tear Drop” in the South of India, The Rajapaksa Family should be 100% Responsible.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs should now take away all the International Passports of the ex-Ministers of the Government from fleeing the country.
An independent commission should investigate the wealth, and the bank accounts of the ex-Ministers, and confiscate any unsubstantiated funds, property, and credit to the Sri Lankan government.
The solution to bring back Sri Lanka to credibility rests on the Recovery Team Sri Lanka Limited.
The Recovery Team Sri Lanka Limited MUST be operated like a Limited Liability Company with a CEO.
Apart from the Board of Directors, there will be a Supervisory Directors on a FREE of Fee, basis. Some of these Supervisory Directors may be from outside of Sri Lanka.
Each Director with a Portfolio or a Ministerial responsibility must be given and be accepted, as a Financial Target with a Time Limit..
The CFO (Chief Financial Officer) will publish the Bottom Line which the Directors should achieve within 12 months.
The salary structure of the Directors including the CEO shall be minimal and based on a revenue-related incentive.
If Dhammika Perera (a non-political successful businessman) is appointed and accepts the responsibility as CEO, he should be allowed to select his own management team.
Like in Singapore, the main principle of the Recovery Team Sri Lanka Ltd is Corruption FREE with Zero Tolerance!
Suggest that Team Sri Lanka Ltd engages Three (3) Top Singaporeans from Singapore Economic Development Board / Temasek Holdings for a One Year Agreement.
Any comments? Agree or Disagree!
Express Your Opinion – Read What Others Say! The Independent Interactive Voice of Sri Lanka on the Internet.
The house of Sri Lankan prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was set on fire by protestersERANGA JAYAWARDENE/AP
Sri Lanka sank into chaos last night when tens of thousands of protesters stormed the president’s official residence and then set fire to the prime minister’s home following months of growing public fury at their leadership.
By the time the crowd reached his house, the prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, had offered to resign and form an all-party government to tackle the crisis engulfing the country.
Shortly afterwards the speaker of parliament, Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, reported that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had informed him that he would step down on Wednesday. I urge everyone for the sake of the country to maintain peace to enable a smooth transition,” Abeywardena said.
https://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/core/bridge3.520.0_en.html#goog_9911610Play Video
Protesters storm Sri Lankan president’s residence
The president’s whereabouts remained a mystery amid speculation that he was trying to flee abroad. According to one account, Rajapaksa, who heads what has been one of the world’s most formidable ruling families, had left the residence on Friday over safety concerns ahead of the protests. The president was escorted to safety,” said a defence source. He is still the president. He is being protected by a military unit.”
There were reports that dozens of protesters had been injured in clashes with security forces in the capital Colombo yesterday. Earlier a surging crowd of chanting demonstrators had gathered in the heart of the city and marched on the president’s mansion, which has become a focus of anger over nepotism, corruption and Sri Lanka’s worst economic crisis in decades.
Security forces fired warning shots and used tear gas in a futile effort to hold them back but thousands of protesters breached their lines and burst into the whitewashed, colonial-era residence.
A Facebook livestream from inside showed protesters frolicking in the palm-fringed swimming pool. Others sat on sofas and a four-poster bed. Some were filmed emptying out a chest of drawers or watching television. Hundreds more milled about in the grounds of the residence with no security guards in sight.
Tens of thousands of demonstrators overran government buildings
DINUKA LIYANAWATTE/REUTERS
Protesters chanting Gota go home!” — using the president’s nickname — also forced their way through heavy metal gates into the finance ministry and Rajapaksa’s seafront offices, which had been the site of a sit-in protest for the past three months.
Wickremesinghe, who had done several stints in the post previously and was appointed again in May, when the entire cabinet was forced to go, agreed to step down so as to ensure safety of the citizens” in line with a recommendation by the opposition party leaders”, said a statement from his office. He, also, had been moved to a secure location.
Demonstrations were also held in Galle, 77 miles from Colombo, where chanting and firecrackers could be heard in the stadium where Australia’s second Test against Sri Lanka was under way. The protesters cheered as news spread of the president’s residence being stormed.
Trouble had been simmering for months over shortages of food, fuel and medicine and long power cuts, a collapsing rupee and soaring inflation, which hit a record 54.6 per cent in June and is expected to rise soon to 70 per cent.
President Rajapaksa was taken to a secure location on Friday. Demonstrators stormed his house today
REUTERS
Until recently, the teardrop-shaped island of 22 million people off the southern Indian coast was a beacon of relative prosperity with near-universal literacy, a poster-child for Asian democracy. It was also a tourist idyll for whale-watching, turtles and powder-white beaches.
But the unrest of the past few months has put paid to that, the drop in tourism revenue compounding a crisis that began in March with largely peaceful protests.
Nothing, however, has had a more catastrophic effect on the economy than the government’s decision to switch to organic farming. A ban on fertiliser and pesticides introduced in April last year wrecked rice crops and drove up the price of staples. Anger has grown since the country stopped receiving fuel shipments, forcing school closures and strict rationing of petrol and diesel.
The government had tried to stop the weekend demonstration by imposing a curfew. But protesters were undeterred and the curfew was lifted after pressure groups and opposition parties objected.
Anger at the government has been growing for weeks
Demonstrators converged on the capital, many arriving on foot, others packed onto buses and trucks. Some were said by an official to have commandeered” trains. This is a dicey situation. If a clear transition is not put in place the president and prime minister’s resignation will create a power vacuum that could be dangerous,” Kusal Perera, a political analyst, told Reuters. The speaker can appoint a new all-party government but whether they will be accepted by the protesters remains to be seen.”
Until now, Rajapaksa, whose brother, Mahinda, had served previously as president and was forced to resign as prime minister in May, had steadfastly resisted calls to leave power. He appeared to have pinned his hopes of rescue on talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over a $3 billion bailout.
This morning the IMF issued a statement saying it is hoping for a resolution that will allow for resumption of our dialogue on an IMF-supported program”. Opposition MPs suggested the speaker of Parliament would take over as temporary president to form an interim government.
Police have been attempting to keep crowds under control with tear gas and water cannon
DINUKA LIYANAWATTE/REUTERS
A powerful landowning family, the Rajapaksa brothers dominated local politics before ascending to the national stage for a decade in 2005 under Mahinda, who made Gotabaya his defence secretary — a big jump for the younger sibling who had lived in the US after retiring from the Sri Lankan army.
The brothers proved a popular but divisive duo, hailed as heroes among the Sinhalese, who comprise 70 per cent of the population, for bringing an end to the 30-year civil war against ethnic Tamil rebels in 2009 after a brutal military campaign that led to accusations of war crimes on both sides.
Demonstrators celebrate after entering the president’s residence
DINUKA LIYANAWATTE/REUTERS
Many Sri Lankans believe the president allowed his relatives to plunder the country’s wealth. Besides the president and prime minister, four other Rajapaksas held ministerial posts until April.
We have told Gota over and over again to go home but he is still clinging onto power,” said Sampath Perera, a fisherman who came for the march from Negombo, 30 miles north of the capital. We will not stop until he listens to us.” Last night it finally appeared that he had.
The Sri Lanka Army said today that Army troops fired a few rounds to the air and the sidewalls of the main gate entrance to the President’s House on Saturday preventing the entry of the protesters into the compound, and did not intend on causing deliberate harm to the protesters.
The Army said in a statement that the attention has been drawn to a few video clips going viral claiming that the Army troops opened fire at protesters in order to cause intentional harm to them when they were attempting to forcibly enter the President’s House compound in Colombo, Fort on Saturday (9) afternoon.
The Army categorically denies having opened fire towards the protesters, but fired a few rounds to the air and the sidewalls of the main gate entrance to the President’s House compound as a deterrent, aimed at preventing the entry of the protesters into the compound, they said.
Firing into the air and sidewalls do not therefore necessarily mean that those Army personnel on duty were intent on causing deliberate harm to the protesters, the Army said.(DSB)
The investigation into the incident of setting fire to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s private residence in Colombo last night has been handed over to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), police said.
The Kollupitiya Police were investigating the incident and the probe will now be taken over by the CID.
Earlier, the police arrested three persons over the arson attack. (DSB)
The European Union (EU) and the US on Sunday urged Sri Lanka’s political fraternity to cooperate, focus and work quickly’ to achieve a peaceful, democratic and orderly transition amid the island nation’s worst economic and political crisis in decades.
On July 9, thousands of irate anti-government protesters stormed the official residence of embattled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and forced him to offer his resignation on July 13. A mob also torched the private house of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.
Rajapaksa would resign on July 13, Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena said on Saturday night, while Prime Minister Wickremesinghe has already expressed his willingness to step down. In Washington, a State Department spokesperson said the US calls on the Sri Lankan parliament to approach this juncture with a commitment to the betterment of the nation not any one political party.
We urge this government or any new, constitutionally selected government to work quickly to identify and implement solutions that will achieve long-term economic stability and address the Sri Lankan people’s discontent over the worsening economic conditions, including power, food and fuel shortages”, the spokesperson said. The spokesman also warned against attacks on protesters or journalists, but also criticised Saturday’s violence.
The Sri Lankan people have the right to peacefully raise their voices, and we call for the full investigation, arrest and prosecution of anyone involved in any protest-related violent incidents”, the spokesperson added. In Brussels, the European Union said it was closely following the evolving situation in Sri Lanka.
We are closely following developments in Sri Lanka, and call on all parties to cooperate and focus on a peaceful, democratic and orderly transition”, said a statement released by the European Union. It is the responsibility of all party leaders to pave the way to a solution to the current crisis and return back to normalcy, it said.
The EU said it is assessing the available options to further step up its support to Sri Lanka’s population.
President Rajapaksa has historically endured a thorny relationship with the US over the dismissal of allegations of war crimes during Sri Lanka’s decades-long civil war. Nevertheless, Washington has over the past two months offered USD 120 million in new financing for Sri Lankan small and medium-sized businesses, a USD 27 million contribution to Sri Lanka’s dairy industry and USD 5.75 million in humanitarian assistance to help those hit the hardest by the economic crisis.
The US has also committed USD 6 million in new grants to provide livelihood assistance to vulnerable populations, and technical assistance on financial reform that will help stabilise the economy.
Sri Lanka, a country of 22 million people, is under the grip of an unprecedented economic turmoil, the worst in seven decades, crippled by an acute shortage of foreign exchange that has left it struggling to pay for essential imports of fuel, and other essentials.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said it is hoping for a resolution to Sri Lanka’s political turmoil that will allow a resumption of talks for a bailout package after a violent day of protests.
Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa will resign on Wednesday after thousands of protesters stormed his official residence and secretariat on Saturday, an official said.
Protesters also set fire to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s private residence.
We are closely monitoring the ongoing developments in Sri Lanka,” Peter Breuer, IMF Senior Mission Chief for Sri Lanka, and Masahiro Nozaki, IMF Mission Chief for Sri Lanka said in a statement on Sunday.
We hope to resolve the current situation that will allow for the resumption of our dialogue on an IMF-supported programme, while we plan to continue technical discussions with our counterparts in the Ministry of Finance and Central Bank of Sri Lanka,”
Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena told reporters on Saturday night that President Rajapaksa had agreed to step down on July 13. Prime Minister Wickremesinghe said he would resign as soon as an all-party government was ready to take over.
Sri Lanka’s inflation topped 50 per cent in June after two years of money printing and an attempted float botched with a surrender requirement which sent the rupee sliding to 360 to the US dollar from 200.
We are deeply concerned about the impact of the ongoing economic crisis on the people, particularly the poor and vulnerable groups, and reaffirm our commitment to support Sri Lanka at this difficult time, in line with the IMF’s policies,” the IMF statement said.
The IMF will formally agree to a deal until re-structuring discussions with creditors are initiated but a staff-level deal was expected around August 2022
With queues for fuel extending to miles at Petrol stations, with queues for cooking gas, essential industries like Sevanagala sugar closing down due to lack of fuel, scarcity of food and essential food getting beyond the reach of people due to the 80% devaluation of the rupee, Sri Lanka has a doomed future. With Ministers scrambling with the begging bowl to Russia, India and the Middle East begging for foreign companies to open up fuel distribution in Sri Lanka, the problem of fuel supplies is likely to be solved. However that will definitely increase our foreign debt .
Even if fuel is found, a food scarcity of immense proportion will inevitably come within months and the Prime Minister’s statement that the scarcity of food will affect 4 million means that 4 million will face starvation and of them a million or more could possibly die of starvation. This not wishful thinking. Instead it is what will really happen as we do not have any plans for development now. All what we have is mere statements. The only definite programme we have seen is the giving of land deeds for those on government land, proceeding at a thousand or more deeds a day in Kurunegala and Puttlam Districts. This was a pre requisite for the signing of the MCC Compact by the UNP in 2019, which meant to divide Sri Lanka into three segments with the Central Segment going to the USA for 200 years.
Minister Dhammika Perera is right when he called for the resignation of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe as uptonow he has failed to attend to any development to allay the economic woes in the country. What is immediately required is a crash programme to cultivate crops- and make all that we imported. At Matara,We did find how to make crayons and did make crayons within 4 months in 1972 under the Divisional Development Councils Programme. We can produce every food item other than wheat flour but we are pussyfooting and there is no crash programme to get production going.
When and why did this happen.
Till President Jayawardena won the elections in 1977 Sri Lanka managed its expenses within its incomes. The local expenses- running the government departments and all development programmes was met with Rupees- derived from taxes supplemented with printing money. Though Rupees were printed it was carefully handled and every rupee accounted for. The idea held by certain economists that printing money causes inflation is nonsense. Inflation is caused by Devaluation, increases in the prices of imports and providing money to people- the Safety Nets in IMF language. .
I served in senior positions, as the G. A. Matara, as the Deputy Director of Small Industries and as the Senior Assistant Commissioner of Agrarian Services which attended to minor irrigation and paddy production and marketing. All development work was done with Rupees. Then the entire country was developed and the entire government tasks – building large tanks, running departments that attended to agriculture irrigation- and all tasks were done with Rupees. I worked as a Consultant to the Government of Bangladesh in 1981-1983 and every government activity was done with Taka, the Bangladesh Rupee.
The input of foreign funds from exports, and other sources was carefully collected-no students were financed for foreign studies and no foreign funds were given for foreign travel etc. This foreign money was first spent on essential imports- food, medicines and allocations to keep local industries moving and very small allocations were made to import essentials like fridges and cars.
Even today while our people are starving for lack of food, medicines and fuel foreign funds are allowed for foreign travel, etc. We are not controlling the incoming dollars.
How did all this change. When President Jayawardena was elected in 1977 he went to the IMF for funds and the IMF imposed Structural Adjustment on Sri Lanka, which meant that Sri Lanka has to stop all development work, freely use the foreign funds obtained on loans to allow the import of every luxury item, enable the rich to live in luxury, send off their children for foreign study, go on cruises and foreign holidays all with the money borrowed on loans. The IMF even said that there need be no repayments for five to ten year periods to bribe the leaders to get their approval. Under IMF advise major development programmes like the Marketing Department and its Cannery and the Divisional Development Councils Programme were stopped. It is following this IMF prescription- structural adjustment that made Sri Lanka indebted. Till 1977 Sri Lanka was not in foreign debt.
Sri Lanka built up a foreign debt by following the IMF’s structural adjustment.
The World Bank itself tells us of the major change that was made in running our economy in 1977.
A major reversal in policies took place in 1977, when the Government decided to change the economic philosophy that had dominated decision making for decades and to limit the role of the State in the economy, increase that of the private sector and more generally increase the role of the Market Forces in the allocation of resources. Sweeping deregulations affected all sectors of the economy. Price Controls were eliminated, barriers to entry in industry were removed, foreign investment was encouraged, domestic trade was opened to the private sector and financial markets were liberalized. …
The new policies brought about a remarkable improvement in economic performance. The GDP growth rate at only 3 %in 1970 to 1977 increased to close to 7% in 1978-1980 and remained at 5% in 1981-1985”(From Trends in Developing Economies,The World Bank: 1990.
However it is important to note that the same Report laments the decline in the Sri lankan economy. In the words of the Report:
By 1986 the deterioration of the economy had become evident. . The growth rate of the GDP slowed to under 4%, unemployment rose to about 17% and gross official reserves declined to less than two months’ imports”.
Sri lanka had no foreign debt till 1977. By liberalizing the use of foreign funds in 1978 by allowing anyone grants to get overseas education, do foreign trips, import all luxury items etc using loaned funds the Country built up the foreign debt. By the time the UNP lost in 1995 the foreign debt had built up to $ 9.7 billion. Chandrika continued with this type of economy and the foreign debt grew to $ 11.3 billion by 2005 when Mahinda Rajapaksa took over and followed the same policies. By the end of 2014,when Mahinda Rajapaksa lost the foreign debt had built up to $ 42.9 billion and by the time Yahapalana ended in 2019the foreign debt had built up to $ 49.5 billion.
Sri Lanka fell into economic bankruptcy in 2022 when it failed to honour its loan repayment- defaulted on its sovereign bond dues. From 1978 as we built up the foreign debt there was no method of paying up the dues of interest and repayments with our funds. Instead we had to borrow further to pay up and when that too was not possible we started floating international sovereign bonds at high interest.
The problem in 2022 was that out of our foreign reserves of some $ 7 billion we spent $ 3 to 4 billion on facing the Covid epidemic and in the meantime our dollar income from tourism and the mid east workers dwindled. We were taken unawares and failed to find loans in time to bridge the gap. Our advisers were sleeping and the battleship hit the rocks without a dollar in sight. In the above process from 1978 under the advise and care of the IMF we were living well beyond our means and it was inevitable that some day we will face bankruptcy.
On 9/7, the President has decided to resign on 13/7 and the Prime Minister has also said he will resign. All political parties are due to decide on an Acting President and a Prime Minister to run the country till an general election is held.
The only method I can see is to get back fast to how we managed the economy before the IMF came in, namely manage all government development with Rupees and carefully control every dollar that the country earns from exports, tourism and other processes. In the meantime there has to be major programmes aimed at producing all possible agricultural and industrial items. and use firstly for consumption and thereafter for exports.
In this effort we are at a loss because since 1978 we confined the administrators to the barracks and did no development work whatsoever. In 1971-73 at Matara I had only one Planning Officer and some twenty Development Assistants. With that staff and the katcheri staff we did yeoman work in employment creation including many small scale agricultural and industrial projects, establioshed a Mechanised Boatyard turning out seaworthy boats. On my own steam without Ministry approval my Planning Officer found the art of making crayons and we did establish a Crayon factory which did succeed in attending to islandwide sales. The Divisional Secretary at Kotmale established a paper factory using waste paper. These successful concerns were stopped on IMF advice.
The one method is to open up a Development Programme to create industries to make every item that we imported. If we could have in 1972 found the art of making crayons and establish a factory within 4 months there is not a single item that we cannot make. That will find employment for millions.
That was the idea that Minister NM Perera had in establishing the Divisional Development Councils Programme;
The main objective is to create employment opportunities in rural areas through smallscale projets in agriculture, industry and in the provision of infrastructural facilities. Making use of the resources available locally, increase national production and involve the people in national development work…. To fulfill the aspirations of thousands of young men and women to whom life will lose all meaning unless they can find a useful place in our society”( Budget Speeches: 1970 & 1973.)
That is the only hope today. The IMF has never helped any country they betrayed. We ourselves have to muster our resources and Mother Nature will pour bountiful; not betray us like the IMF.
We have of course to re think our extension effort, buildup the agricultural extension system with a peoples base like a cooperative and also re appoint the village level agricultural workers that were in 1993, promoted to the rank of Grama Niladhari. It is sad that our excellent agricultural extension service of the Sixties was sacrificed- today the agricultural extension service does not exist below the Divisional level. Let us get back the extension development systems we lost to make up for the lost decades since 1978.
These are the words of a person who designed and established the Youth Self Employment Programme of Bangladesh in 1982 within nineteen months and trained the Bangladeshi staff to continue it and today that programme has guided over three million youths to be commercially viably employed. That Programme is today the largest employment creation programme the world has known.
Garvin Karunaratne, former GA Matara
Author of:
Microenterprise Development..:The Way Out of the World Bank Stranglehold, Sarasavi, 1997
How the IM Ruined Sri Lanka & Alternative Programmes of Success, Godages, 2006
How the IMF Sabotaged Third World Development, Godages/Kindle, 2017
How the IMF’s Structural Adjustment Destroyed Sri lanka, Godages: 2022
Sri Lanka is a small fry in the Big Fish oil market game.
The oil business offers substantial payback to operators, but since Sri Lanka has a current cash flow problem, the discussions could be more complicated.
Sri Lanka has a current negative cash-in-hand problem, as a Sovereign State, Sri Lanka is Not Bankrupt!
“The country is going bankrupt.” In truth, that is a false assertion. To begin with, when a country fails to repay its debts, it does not go bankrupt; instead, it defaults on the loan. Second, the government, not the country, defaults.
With this in mind, suppliers might be ready to commence limited supplies of oil against a Sri Lankan government Bond.
Here comes the skill of the negotiators.
The supplier might offer personal incentives to the buyer against the prevailing oil price and their Terms & Conditions.
Could Sri Lanka find professionals capable of putting the country before the individual?
Express Your Opinion – Read What Others Say! The Independent Interactive Voice of Sri Lanka on the Internet.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has informed that he would step down from the presidency on July 13 (Wednesday), Speaker of Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena says.
The announcement came hours after people, calling for the resignation of the President and his government, stormed into the President’s House in Colombo Fort earlier today.
They had pushed through barricades at entry roads to the President’s House to reach the premises and occupied the premises.
The Speaker, in a video statement released a short while ago, stated that the President has agreed to implement the decisions taken at the meeting of political party leaders this evening. The party leaders had arrived at the decision that the President and the Prime Minister must resign immediately.
The President has told the Speaker that he would vacate his position on July 13 to allow a peaceful transition of power.
Speaker Abeywardena appealed to the members of the public to remain peaceful and advised public servants to ensure the smooth functioning of day-to-day life.
Meanwhile, PM Ranil Wickremesinghe has announced that he would resign from his position after an all-party government is established.
Explained: What Happens When A Country Goes Bankrupt? Sri Lanka is in the midst of a rising financial and humanitarian catastrophe, with predictions that it could dec…
