Sri Lanka Army soldiers patrol during curfew in Colombo, Sri Lanka, May 11, 2022. ERANGA JAYAWARDENA / AP
Sri Lankan authorities deployed armored vehicles and troops on the streets of the capital Colombo on Wednesday May 11, two days after pro-government mobs attacked peaceful protesters.
The army has been ordered to shoot at people suspected of involvement in the violence that police say has left eight dead and more than 225 injured since Monday on this island of 22 million people.
A bus burned during anti-government protests in Sri Lanka, in Colombo, May 11, 2022. ISHARA S. KODIKARA / AFP
After the fire late Tuesday night at a luxury hotel owned by a member of the Rajapaksa clan in the south of the country, police fired in several locations to disperse the crowd, which burned vehicles.
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Demonstrators are demanding the resignation of the President
Months of food, fuel and medicine shortages and power outages have plagued the island’s population, and peaceful protests have been calling for the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa for weeks.
A Sri Lankan scrap collector searches for recyclable items near buses burned during clashes between pro-government and anti-government protesters in Colombo, Sri Lanka May 11, 2022. ERANGA JAYAWARDENA / AP
Government supporters sent to the capital from the provinces on Monday and mobilized by his brother, resigning Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, set the powder alight by attacking the protesters.
The 76-year-old chief of the Rajapaksa clan resigned on Monday after the bloody clashes that ensued. He had to be exfiltrated by the army from his besieged official residence in Colombo just before dawn on Tuesday.
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This resignation is “an important event, people are really happy with it,” said Kaushalya Fernando, actress and human rights activist. But “this is not enough,” she insisted, adding, “We want the withdrawal of the entire Rajapaksa clan. They are so, so corrupt”, “they have eaten Sri Lanka like a caterpillar eats a fruit or a leaf”.
Curfew extended by 24 hours
The curfew imposed shortly after the clashes began was due to be lifted Wednesday morning but was extended by 24 hours. Protesters resisted on Wednesday by maintaining their camps in front of the President’s office.
During a demonstration near the President’s office in Colombo, May 10, 2022. ISHARA S. KODIKARA / AFP
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who remained in office and enjoys wide powers and command of the security forces, called on Wednesday Twitter “All Sri Lankans must unite to face economic, social and political challenges.”
But the main opposition party, the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), reiterated on Wednesday that it would not participate in a government under its authority. “Violence is provoked [par les autorités] to establish a military regime,” denounced opposition leader Sajith Premadasa Twitterdemanding that “the rule of law” be “upheld by the constitution and not by arms”.
Pope Francis on Wednesday urged Sri Lankan authorities and rioters to “maintain peaceful conduct without yielding to violence” and to fully respect “human rights” and “civil liberties.”
Consistent with calls from the United Nations and the European Union, the United States has expressed concern at both the escalation of violence and the use of the army. “Peaceful protesters should never be subjected to violence or intimidation, either by military or civilian forces,” Defense Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters in Washington state on Tuesday.
Sri Lanka, which has defaulted on its external debt estimated at $51 billion since April 12, is currently in talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over a possible bailout. “We are closely following developments in Sri Lanka and are concerned about the increase in social tensions and violence,” Masahiro Nozaki, head of the IMF’s Sri Lanka mission, said in a statement.
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