Status: 07/22/2022 12:45 p.m
The new President of Sri Lanka has only been in office for a short time and is taking direct action: the military and the police used violence to break up the most important protest camp of government critics. Several people were arrested.
In the crisis-ridden country of Sri Lanka, a massive contingent of security forces stormed and broke up the main anti-government protest camp in Colombo, the capital. When around 1,000 police officers and soldiers were deployed at night, nine people were arrested, the police said. 14 injured were admitted to the National Hospital.
New president warns of occupation
Widely unpopular new President Ranil Wickremesinghe said at his inauguration that any attempt to overthrow the government or occupy government buildings is not democracy but against the law. A few hours later the storming of the main protest camp began.
According to the police, around 200 protesters were present at the time of the raid. Emergency services are said to have torn down tents and erected barricades around the protest camp to prevent anyone from returning. The forces cordoned off the presidential palace and closed the main access roads to traffic.
Lawyers who wanted to go to the former main protest camp were attacked by emergency services, the bar association said. At least one lawyer and several journalists were also arrested. The chamber called on President Wickremesinghe to ensure that he and his government respect the rule of law and people’s fundamental rights. They condemned the attack on the protesters. The country’s Human Rights Commission also called the attack a complete violation of basic human rights.
New president partly responsible for the crisis?
According to the police, around 300 people demonstrated in the capital in the morning. Several hundred people were still waiting in front of the palace, demanding Wickremesinghe’s resignation. They hold Wickremesinghe responsible for the serious crisis in the country, along with his predecessor in office, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who has fled.
The demonstrators see Wickremesinghe as a representative of the power elite around Rajapaksa, who fled abroad. The member of the governing party, Dinesh Gunawardena, was sworn in as the new head of government. The 73-year-old had previously been appointed by the new president. The new prime minister is also considered a long-time loyal supporter of the ex-president who fled.
Severe economic and financial crisis
The violent crackdown on the protesters could disrupt negotiations between the heavily indebted country and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Sri Lanka has also asked the IMF for help in the face of its worst economic crisis in decades. Saliya Pieries, of the country’s Bar Association, said the unnecessary use of brute force was not good for Sri Lanka’s international reputation.
Sri Lanka is mired in a severe economic and financial crisis, which people blame on mismanagement by the political leadership. The island state south of India with its approximately 22 million inhabitants was once considered the new Singapore, an up-and-coming country with a growing middle class. People now have to queue at gas stations for days to get petrol or diesel. The power goes out regularly. There is no gas for cooking or medicine, and food prices have risen sharply. The heavily indebted country lacks the money to import important goods.
The reasons for the crisis are manifold: mismanagement and corruption play a role, but also the consequences of the corona pandemic, which have hit the important tourism sector particularly hard. Because of the crisis, tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets against the political leadership in recent weeks.