US, European diplomats urge SL to rethink its state of emergency
COLOMBO: US and European diplomats on Saturday urged Sri Lanka’s beleaguered president to repeal a state of emergency imposed after a general strike brought the bankrupt country to a halt.
Months of blackouts and acute shortages of food, fuel and medicines have caused widespread suffering across the South Asian island nation, which is enduring its worst-ever economic downturn.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa declared a fresh state of emergency on Friday after weeks of protests demanding his government step down over its mismanagement of the crisis.
US ambassador Julie Chung said she was “concerned” by the second state of emergency in as many months, adding that Sri Lanka’s deepening economic crisis and political gridlock needed long-term solutions. “The State
of Emergency won’t help do that,” Chung said on Twitter.
The European Union said the ordinance “could have a counter productive effect” and noted that a month of anti-government protests had so far been peaceful.
A spokesman for Rajapaksa said the state of emergency was
imposed to “ensure public order” after Friday’s general strike brought public transport and economic activity to a halt.
The measure gives sweeping detention powers to the military and allows the president to make laws without parliamentary approval.
Rajapaksa declared an earlier state of emergency on April 1, a day after thousands of protesters attempted to storm his home in the capital Colombo.
It was allowed to lapse two weeks later, but protests have since escalated and spread to every corner of the island.
Meanwhile, streets in Sri Lanka’s Colombo were calm on Saturday after the president declared a state of emergency following escalating anti-government protests.
PM likely to resign in the face of deepening crisis
Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa is learnt to have responded positively to president’s request to quit in the face of deepening economic and political crises in the island nation. As per reports, at a special Cabinet meeting at the president’s house, headed by Gotabaya, Mahinda agreed to resign from his post, according to a report in the Colombo Page.