Sri Lanka: President Rajapaksa emails overdue resignation
Protesters were withdrawing from government buildings as they awaited the president's formal resignation. Gotabaya Rajapaksa had promised to step down by Wednesday.
Issued on: 14/07/2022
Colombo was relatively calm on Thursday, a day after exiled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had promised to step down
Sri Lanka's embattled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa sent his letter of resignation to parliament via email on Thursday — a day after the Wednesday deadline he had repeatedly given himself to leave office.
Rajapaksa and his wife fled to the nearby Maldives on Wednesday aboard an air force jet. Rajapaska landed in Singapore Thursday where authorities there said he was on a "private visit" and had neither requested nor been granted asylum.
Reports earlier on Thursday said he was on his way to Singapore before possibly continuing on to Saudi Arabia.
"The authenticity and the legality of the e-mail will have to be checked out" before being formally accepted, parliament speaker spokesperson Indunil Yapa told the AFP news agency, adding that a formal announcement was expected on Friday.
Over the weekend, protesters had stormed Rajapaksa's presidential palace, and on Wednesday, they also occupied the office of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who had quickly taken over as acting president and now is bearing the brunt of the protesters' anger.
Wickremesinghe responded with a nationwide curfew, adding: "We can't allow fascists to take over."
After months of protests, the streets of Colombo were calm on Thursday morning after protesters appeared to broker a truce with authorities.
Protesters occupied Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's office on Wednesday, but agreed to withdraw on Thursday
Protesters ready to stand down
"We are peacefully withdrawing from the presidential palace, the presidential secretariat and the prime minister's office with immediate effect but will continue our struggle," a spokesperson for the demonstrators said on Thursday morning.
The negotiations to vacate the occupied buildings follow clashes between protesters and police on Wednesday night outside parliament that saw one killed and 84 injured.
"This building is a national treasure and it should be protected," Omalpe Sobitha, a senior Buddhist monk who supported the protest movement, told reporters. "There must be a proper audit and the property given back to the state."
Sri Lankans are cautiously waiting for President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to formally resign
The road ahead
Sri Lankan lawmakers have agreed to elect a new president on July 20 to serve for the remainder of Rajapaksa's term, which ends in 2024. The new president could in theory appoint a new prime minister, pending the approval of parliament.
Whoever takes the reins from the Rajapaksa political dynasty will be tasked with bringing Sri Lanka's economy back from collapse. Food, fuel and medicine remain in extremely short supply.
As one 24-year-old university student told the Associated Press: "Gotabaya resigning is one problem solved, but there are so many more."
Street party draws curtain on Sri Lanka's Rajapaksa era
Sean GLEESON and Maryke VERMAAK
Thu, July 14, 2022
Exhausted and drained after nearly 100 days of protests, a small crowd gathered its remaining strength Thursday to celebrate the resignation of Sri Lanka's leader at the seaside headquarters of their campaign to oust him.
A stone's throw from what had days earlier been the office of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, people smiled wearily at their compatriots as they danced, handed out sweets, embraced each other or waved the national flag.
For more than three months, the seafront boulevard has been home to a cluster of tents used as a staging post for protesters demanding the despised leader step down for his role in driving Sri Lanka's battered economy to ruin.
But only a few hundred people gathered to mark a major milestone in months of agitation, when Rajapaksa emailed his resignation from a safe haven in Singapore after fleeing the country to escape public wrath.
Many veterans of the protest movement were exhausted after enduring tear gas barrages and tense confrontations with security forces in the preceding days.
For others, the moment was marred by word that a legal technicality may delay formal recognition that Rajapaksa had indeed stepped down.
"I certainly feel, I think the crowd here definitely does feel, quite happy about it," activist Vraie Balthaazar told AFP.
"But at the same time, I think there's also until we see the letter, there's always a sense of apprehension."
Part of the small crowd drawn to the protest camp on Thursday evening danced to an improvised call-and-response song by performers on a wooden stage, chanting through a scratchy public address system, as a bemused pair of Buddhist monks looked on.
Elsewhere, the camp continued its function as a safety net for residents of the capital immiserated by the country's economic crisis, with a group of needy citizens queuing up at a soup kitchen.
Nearly all of those present had left by midnight, in the face of evening rains, Sri Lanka's chronic petrol shortages and a government curfew imposed to contain unrest.
- 'People's power' -
The subdued celebration was a far cry from the high-octane confrontations on the streets of Colombo at the weekend, when huge throngs of people elbowed their way past troops to seize Rajapaksa's home and office.
Soldiers had fired in the air to clear a passage for the president's escape, mirroring the ignominious exit of his brother Mahinda, the ex-premier, from his own residence two months earlier.
Their departures, along with the resignation of sibling finance minister Basil Rajapaksa in April, have wounded -- perhaps terminally -- a clan that dominated the country's politics for much of the past two decades.
"We feel really amazing. We have shown the people's power," university student Anjana Banadrawatta told AFP.
Under Sri Lanka's constitution, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will automatically become acting president until parliament can appoint a successor.
But protesters are also demanding Wickremesinghe's resignation, accusing him of helping to prop up a political order that has allowed corruption and authoritarianism to flourish.
Banadrawatta said he and others would continue their struggle in the morning.
"We are starting a new fight tomorrow with new hope," said the 22-year-old.
But before then, he added, "of course we are going to have fun and celebrate."
gle-mav/slb/to
Sean GLEESON and Maryke VERMAAK
Thu, July 14, 2022
Exhausted and drained after nearly 100 days of protests, a small crowd gathered its remaining strength Thursday to celebrate the resignation of Sri Lanka's leader at the seaside headquarters of their campaign to oust him.
A stone's throw from what had days earlier been the office of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, people smiled wearily at their compatriots as they danced, handed out sweets, embraced each other or waved the national flag.
For more than three months, the seafront boulevard has been home to a cluster of tents used as a staging post for protesters demanding the despised leader step down for his role in driving Sri Lanka's battered economy to ruin.
But only a few hundred people gathered to mark a major milestone in months of agitation, when Rajapaksa emailed his resignation from a safe haven in Singapore after fleeing the country to escape public wrath.
Many veterans of the protest movement were exhausted after enduring tear gas barrages and tense confrontations with security forces in the preceding days.
For others, the moment was marred by word that a legal technicality may delay formal recognition that Rajapaksa had indeed stepped down.
"I certainly feel, I think the crowd here definitely does feel, quite happy about it," activist Vraie Balthaazar told AFP.
"But at the same time, I think there's also until we see the letter, there's always a sense of apprehension."
Part of the small crowd drawn to the protest camp on Thursday evening danced to an improvised call-and-response song by performers on a wooden stage, chanting through a scratchy public address system, as a bemused pair of Buddhist monks looked on.
Elsewhere, the camp continued its function as a safety net for residents of the capital immiserated by the country's economic crisis, with a group of needy citizens queuing up at a soup kitchen.
Nearly all of those present had left by midnight, in the face of evening rains, Sri Lanka's chronic petrol shortages and a government curfew imposed to contain unrest.
- 'People's power' -
The subdued celebration was a far cry from the high-octane confrontations on the streets of Colombo at the weekend, when huge throngs of people elbowed their way past troops to seize Rajapaksa's home and office.
Soldiers had fired in the air to clear a passage for the president's escape, mirroring the ignominious exit of his brother Mahinda, the ex-premier, from his own residence two months earlier.
Their departures, along with the resignation of sibling finance minister Basil Rajapaksa in April, have wounded -- perhaps terminally -- a clan that dominated the country's politics for much of the past two decades.
"We feel really amazing. We have shown the people's power," university student Anjana Banadrawatta told AFP.
Under Sri Lanka's constitution, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will automatically become acting president until parliament can appoint a successor.
But protesters are also demanding Wickremesinghe's resignation, accusing him of helping to prop up a political order that has allowed corruption and authoritarianism to flourish.
Banadrawatta said he and others would continue their struggle in the morning.
"We are starting a new fight tomorrow with new hope," said the 22-year-old.
But before then, he added, "of course we are going to have fun and celebrate."
gle-mav/slb/to
How has Sri Lanka's economic crisis impacted its Tamil minority?
Amid the economic and political turmoil in Sri Lanka, experts say the country's Tamil minority, who paid a heavy price during the civil war, feel victimized all over again. Some are fleeing to Tamil Nadu in India.
Amid the economic and political turmoil in Sri Lanka, experts say the country's Tamil minority, who paid a heavy price during the civil war, feel victimized all over again. Some are fleeing to Tamil Nadu in India.
14/07/2022
Analysts say it's harder for Sri Lankan Tamils to protest because they would have to deal with the military
Sri Lanka's economic and political crisis has reached a breaking point in recent weeks, with the island nation facing severe shortages of essential supplies and fuel.
Thousands of Sri Lankans took to the streets in the capital Colombo, demanding that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe step down.
But protesting is a luxury many Sri Lankan Tamils do not enjoy, and scarcities induced by the economic crisis are also not new to them, says Nilanthan, a political analyst based in the northern Sri Lankan city of Jaffna.
Sri Lankan Tamils, the country's largest ethnic minority, account for nearly 12% of a population of 22 million, and are mainly concentrated in the northern and eastern provinces.
The ethnic minority shares deep social, cultural and linguistic ties with people in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, and has been struggling to recover from decades of a civil war that lasted until 2009 and claimed around 100,000 lives.
'We are being victimized again'
In the island's latest economic and political crisis, Nilanthan says Sri Lankans "are all equally affected across different ethnicities and social backgrounds."
"There is no fuel and essential commodities everywhere. But it is an additional burden for Sri Lankan Tamils, as we are being victimized again. We are victims of war and now we are also victims of the economic crisis, '' Nilanthan told DW.
Packiyanathan Ahilan, a senior lecturer at the University of Jaffna, says economic suffering is something Tamils in the northern and eastern provinces are all too familiar with, having endured shortages for many years during the civil war.
''Tamils were already trained to survive without fuel, gas and electricity and less. So somehow, they can manage the ongoing issue based on their many years of experience being a Tamil in Sri Lanka. But it is difficult to live and run a day-to-day life for them too," Ahilan told DW.
Tamils 'cannot protest'
Sri Lanka's northern and eastern provinces have hardly seen protests like the ones which took place in other parts of the country.
"Sri Lankan Tamils living in these regions cannot protest," said Nilanthan. ''Apart from isolated incidents of altercations between protestors and police officials, the protestors [in other regions] have largely remained unharmed… If Singhalese [largest ethnic group in Sri Lanka] agitate, they deal with the police. But here, we would have to deal with the military, '' Nilanthan added.
Thangamuthu Jayasingam, a Batticaloa-based attorney and director of the National Peace Council, says Sri Lankan Tamils who have come out to protest for other issues have suffered for it.
''Hence, they are cautious about actively protesting… But Sri Lankan Tamils support the protests heart to heart. They never voted for the Rajapakshas,'' Jayasingam said.
Civil protests have placed a spotlight on misgovernance and the divisional tactics of politicians based on religion and ethnicity.
Ahilan says protesters are calling for the removal of the politically powerful Rajapaksha family because of corruption. "Tamils want justice for war crimes."
The Rajapaksha family played a major role in Sri Lanka's civil war and their victory in the war was also one of the reasons they came to power.
Some Sri Lankan Tamils are also demanding structural changes, including more autonomy and demilitarization.
"If Sri Lanka does not sort out its minority issue, it will pull them down in the international stage too,'' said Jayasingam.
Escape to Tamil Nadu
At least 100 refugees, mostly Sri Lankan Tamils from the Northern and Eastern provinces, have arrived in India's Tamil Nadu in the past months. Many of them sold their homes and lands to pay for their boat trips to escape Sri Lanka's economic crisis.
"They think that Tamil Nadu is safe and whenever there is danger they flee there," said Nilanthan, adding that Sri Lankan Tamils are culturally and linguistically connected to Tamil Nadu.
According to Jayasingam, India is "a friendly country" for Sri Lankan Tamils. "Whoever has means to go there are trying to go. It is within reach for them. If things get worse, there will be more refugees in the future.''
With a significant Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora abroad, the remittance economy has also helped keep some Tamils afloat. But Tamils from lower income groups do not have access to this. ''They are only trying to enter India as refugees,'' said Ahilan.
All Sri Lankans are trying the best they can to manage their economic situation with limited resources, said Nilanthan. ''Sri Lankan Tamils are survivors of a genocide, and we will try to survive this too. ''
Edited by: Sou-Jie van Brunnersum
'Things are changing every hour': Sri Lankans' fury turns on PM after president flees
Issued on: 13/07/2022
01:50
Ranil Wickremesinghe, who was named acting president of Sri Lanka on Wednesday as its political and economic crisis deepened, is tantalisingly close to the pinnacle of power but may not get much time to enjoy it. FRANCE 24's Navodita Kumari tells us more on this tense day in Sri Lanka.
Issued on: 13/07/2022
01:50
Ranil Wickremesinghe, who was named acting president of Sri Lanka on Wednesday as its political and economic crisis deepened, is tantalisingly close to the pinnacle of power but may not get much time to enjoy it. FRANCE 24's Navodita Kumari tells us more on this tense day in Sri Lanka.
Opinion: No progress in Sri Lanka without total overhaul of political system
Without a complete transformation of the political system, Sri Lanka won't be able to eliminate the abuse of power and corruption that landed the nation in such dire straits, writes journalist Amirthanayagam Nixon.
Without a complete transformation of the political system, Sri Lanka won't be able to eliminate the abuse of power and corruption that landed the nation in such dire straits, writes journalist Amirthanayagam Nixon.
12/07/2022
Public anger is running high amid Sri Lanka's worst economic crisis in decades
These are turbulent times in Sri Lanka, with the country plunged into full-fledged economic and political turmoil.
Despite the dramatic circumstances, the political class has not risen to the challenge. No politician seems to be in a position to come up with concrete solutions and put an end to the crisis.
Ever since news emerged that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa would step down on Wednesday as a result of the popular uprising against his government, there has been a race to decide who the next president will be.
The country's Sinhala ethnic-majority dominated political parties are also wrangling over who will become the new prime minister.
Political bickering over who should take over
Ranil Wickremesinghe, the leader of the United National Party, who took over as prime minister after the president's elder brother Mahinda Rajapaksa stepped down in May following violent protests, tried hard to resolve the economic problems.
Sri Lankan journalist Amirthanayagam Nixon
Wickremesinghe, who served as PM multiple times before his latest stint, has the political experience and the necessary connections internationally to secure foreign financial aid for Sri Lanka and get the country out of its economic hardship.
According to the Sri Lankan constitution, if the president resigns, the prime minister becomes the acting president, until parliament convenes and selects a new president.
So if Gotabaya steps down as promised, Wickremesinghe will automatically become interim president until parliament elects an MP to serve out the presidential term, which ends in November 2024.
But Samagi Jana Balawegaya, the main opposition party, is demanding that its leader Sajith Premadasa be made president.
The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna party, dominated by the Rajapaksa family, continues to enjoy a majority in parliament and wants the next president to come from within its ranks.
Another opposition party, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, is seeking the prime minister's post.
While political parties are bickering, the general public, who are hit hard by soaring inflation and shortages of essential items, including food, fuel and medicine, are angry and dismayed by politicians' self-serving rhetoric and actions.
IN PICTURES: SRI LANKA UNRAVELS INTO POLITICAL TURMOIL
Sri Lanka spirals into political crisis
Sri Lanka's legislature has announced that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa will step down next week after widespread protests calling for him to take responsibility for the nation's worst economic crisis in recent memory.
12345678
Ethnic conflict and military budget
Meanwhile, industrial production has plummeted, export earnings have dried up and government coffers are empty. The country is bankrupt and has nearly exhausted its already scarce supplies of fuel.
The reasons for Sri Lanka's current economic turmoil date back to the nation's almost three-decade-long civil war. This was a clash between the Sinhalese-dominated Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam insurgent group, which had hoped to establish a separate state for the ethnic Tamil minority, who make up about 15% of the nation's 22 million people.
Even though the conflict, which began in 1983, ended in 2009, successive governments continued to allocate more and more resources for the military at the expense of other development projects.
Despite the economic problems, Colombo earmarked 373 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($1.86 billion, €1.8 billion) for the 2022 defense budget, a 14% increase over the allocation in 2021.
In the 13 years since the end of the conflict, the Ministry of Defense has been the recipient of the highest share of government spending.
Ethnic tensions have hindered the country from developing its Tamil-populated northern and eastern regions, which are rich in marine resources. The development of those regions could boost the economy, particularly seafood exports, generating wealth and foreign income.
Likewise, the Kankesanthurai natural harbor in Jaffna, in the Northern Province, remains underdeveloped while the Trincomalee harbor on the east coast is used solely by the Sri Lankan navy for military purposes.
This imposes a huge economic cost on Sri Lanka as ships carrying goods from India have to sail all the way to the Colombo port, on the southern coast, incurring huge costs.
Total overhaul needed
Ethnic polarization, discrimination and a lack of meaningful power sharing with minority Tamil and Muslim communities are the root cause of the current political and economic turmoil.
To prevent such crises in future, there will have to be a total eradication of ethnic tensions, corruption and abuse of power. That will require a complete overhaul of the Sri Lankan state and power structure.
But the Sinhalese-majority dominated political parties and the Buddhist clergy are not ready for such changes, yet.
There are now steps being taken to pass the 21st amendment to the nation's constitution aimed at empowering the parliament and curbing the unfettered powers of the president.
But simply passing such an amendment without a complete transformation of the political system won't eliminate the abuse of power and corruption that landed Sri Lanka in such dire straits.
Edited by: Srinivas Mazumdaru
Public anger is running high amid Sri Lanka's worst economic crisis in decades
These are turbulent times in Sri Lanka, with the country plunged into full-fledged economic and political turmoil.
Despite the dramatic circumstances, the political class has not risen to the challenge. No politician seems to be in a position to come up with concrete solutions and put an end to the crisis.
Ever since news emerged that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa would step down on Wednesday as a result of the popular uprising against his government, there has been a race to decide who the next president will be.
The country's Sinhala ethnic-majority dominated political parties are also wrangling over who will become the new prime minister.
Political bickering over who should take over
Ranil Wickremesinghe, the leader of the United National Party, who took over as prime minister after the president's elder brother Mahinda Rajapaksa stepped down in May following violent protests, tried hard to resolve the economic problems.
Sri Lankan journalist Amirthanayagam Nixon
Wickremesinghe, who served as PM multiple times before his latest stint, has the political experience and the necessary connections internationally to secure foreign financial aid for Sri Lanka and get the country out of its economic hardship.
According to the Sri Lankan constitution, if the president resigns, the prime minister becomes the acting president, until parliament convenes and selects a new president.
So if Gotabaya steps down as promised, Wickremesinghe will automatically become interim president until parliament elects an MP to serve out the presidential term, which ends in November 2024.
But Samagi Jana Balawegaya, the main opposition party, is demanding that its leader Sajith Premadasa be made president.
The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna party, dominated by the Rajapaksa family, continues to enjoy a majority in parliament and wants the next president to come from within its ranks.
Another opposition party, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, is seeking the prime minister's post.
While political parties are bickering, the general public, who are hit hard by soaring inflation and shortages of essential items, including food, fuel and medicine, are angry and dismayed by politicians' self-serving rhetoric and actions.
IN PICTURES: SRI LANKA UNRAVELS INTO POLITICAL TURMOIL
Sri Lanka spirals into political crisis
Sri Lanka's legislature has announced that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa will step down next week after widespread protests calling for him to take responsibility for the nation's worst economic crisis in recent memory.
12345678
Ethnic conflict and military budget
Meanwhile, industrial production has plummeted, export earnings have dried up and government coffers are empty. The country is bankrupt and has nearly exhausted its already scarce supplies of fuel.
The reasons for Sri Lanka's current economic turmoil date back to the nation's almost three-decade-long civil war. This was a clash between the Sinhalese-dominated Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam insurgent group, which had hoped to establish a separate state for the ethnic Tamil minority, who make up about 15% of the nation's 22 million people.
Even though the conflict, which began in 1983, ended in 2009, successive governments continued to allocate more and more resources for the military at the expense of other development projects.
Despite the economic problems, Colombo earmarked 373 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($1.86 billion, €1.8 billion) for the 2022 defense budget, a 14% increase over the allocation in 2021.
In the 13 years since the end of the conflict, the Ministry of Defense has been the recipient of the highest share of government spending.
Ethnic tensions have hindered the country from developing its Tamil-populated northern and eastern regions, which are rich in marine resources. The development of those regions could boost the economy, particularly seafood exports, generating wealth and foreign income.
Likewise, the Kankesanthurai natural harbor in Jaffna, in the Northern Province, remains underdeveloped while the Trincomalee harbor on the east coast is used solely by the Sri Lankan navy for military purposes.
This imposes a huge economic cost on Sri Lanka as ships carrying goods from India have to sail all the way to the Colombo port, on the southern coast, incurring huge costs.
Total overhaul needed
Ethnic polarization, discrimination and a lack of meaningful power sharing with minority Tamil and Muslim communities are the root cause of the current political and economic turmoil.
To prevent such crises in future, there will have to be a total eradication of ethnic tensions, corruption and abuse of power. That will require a complete overhaul of the Sri Lankan state and power structure.
But the Sinhalese-majority dominated political parties and the Buddhist clergy are not ready for such changes, yet.
There are now steps being taken to pass the 21st amendment to the nation's constitution aimed at empowering the parliament and curbing the unfettered powers of the president.
But simply passing such an amendment without a complete transformation of the political system won't eliminate the abuse of power and corruption that landed Sri Lanka in such dire straits.
Edited by: Srinivas Mazumdaru
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