Sri Lanka president urges calm as anti-government protests intensify

Sri Lanka’s president Gotabaya Rajapaksa called for calm after days of violent unrest that have left his government on the brink of collapse, with the army enforcing a nationwide curfew and threatening to shoot looters.

The island has faced intensifying protests in recent weeks calling on Rajapaksa to resign over an economic crisis that has led to severe shortages of everyday essentials and double-digit inflation and pushed the government close to default.

Mahinda Rajapaksa, Gotabaya’s elder brother, stepped down as prime minister on Monday after a wave of violence, triggering the dissolution of the cabinet. Mahinda argued that his resignation would pave the way for a cross-party government to restore calm while keeping Gotabaya in power.

But the president has been unable to form a new government, with many opposition leaders unwilling to work with him and protesters reiterating calls on him to quit.

The lack of a cabinet has left Rajapaksa’s government in a state of limbo as it tries to negotiate economic bailouts with the IMF, World Bank and others.

“This is the time for all Sri Lankans to join hands as one, to overcome the economic, social and political challenges,” Rajapaksa wrote on Twitter on Wednesday. “I urge all Sri Lankans to reject the subversive attempts to push you towards racial and religious disharmony.”

The army, which has been deployed to enforce a nationwide curfew that has been extended to Thursday, was ordered to shoot looters on sight.

I appeal and urge people to remain calm & stop violence & acts of revenge against citizens, irrespective of political affiliations.

All efforts will be made to restore political stability through consensus, within constitutional mandate & to resolve economic crisis.

— Gotabaya Rajapaksa (@GotabayaR) May 10, 2022

At least eight people were killed in violence between pro- and anti-government protesters this week, including a lawmaker from the Rajapaksa family’s ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna party. A senior police official was also attacked by a mob in the capital Colombo on Tuesday.

The Rajapaksa family has dominated Sri Lankan politics for most of the past two decades. Mahinda oversaw the end of a three-decade civil war when he was president between 2005 and 2015 with a brutal military campaign to crush Tamil separatist rebels.

After four years in opposition, the family returned to power in 2019 with Gotabaya’s election as leader. But a series of tax cuts and the loss of crucial tourism revenues during the pandemic plunged the island into a debt crisis, leaving it unable to refinance foreign debt totalling more than $50bn.

Sri Lanka’s foreign currency reserves have fallen to as low as $50mn, leaving it unable to import enough food, medicine and fuel for its population.

Authorities have sought bailouts from countries including India and China as well as multilateral lenders.

The IMF said it was continuing technical discussions with Sri Lanka, though it will be unable to advance talks for a loan without the appointment of a new cabinet. The fund expressed concern over “rising social tensions and violence”, according to a statement shared with local media.