Crisis-hit Sri Lanka deploys troops to quell protests

COLOMBO (AFP) – Troops armed with sweeping powers were deployed in Sri Lanka yesterday with the nearbankrupt country on edge after the president declared a state of emergency to quell escalating protests against him.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa invoked special powers on Friday night, a day after hundreds tried to storm his house in anger over unprecedented shortages of food, fuel and medicine.

The state of emergency was for the “protection of public order and the maintenance of supplies and services essential to the life of the community,” Rajapaksa said in a proclamation.

Soldiers armed with automatic assault rifles had already been deployed for crowd control at fuel stations and elsewhere when the emergency was declared. More were seen yesterday.

In normal times, Sri Lanka’s military can only play a supporting role to police, but the state of emergency gives them authority to act alone, including to detain civilians.

The South Asian nation of 22 million people is battling severe shortages of essentials, sharp price rises and crippling power cuts in its most painful downturn since independence from Britain in 1948.

The coronavirus pandemic has torpedoed tourism and remittances, both vital to the economy, and authorities have imposed a broad import ban in an attempt to save foreign currency.

Many economists also say the crisis has been exacerbated by government mismanagement, years of accumulated borrowing, and ill-advised tax cuts.

The emergency laws came ahead of planned anti-government protests on Sunday, when activists on social media have urged people to demonstrate outside their homes.

“Do not be deterred by tear gas, very soon they will run out of dollars to re-stock,” said one post encouraging people to demonstrate even if police attempt to break up gatherings.

US ambassador Julie Chung warned: “Sri Lankans have a right to protest peacefully – essential for democratic expression.”