PROVOCATUERS

Sri Lanka's ruling party supporters storm anti-govt protest camp, at least 9 injured


People block a main road as they wait for the gas trucks to arrive, in Colombo

Mon, May 9, 2022
By Alasdair Pal and Uditha Jayasinghe

COLOMBO (Reuters) -Supporters of Sri Lanka's ruling party stormed a major protest site in the country's commercial capital Colombo on Monday, attacking anti-government demonstrators and clashing with police who used tear gas and water cannon to drive them back.

Protests against President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's government have raged for weeks amid the country's worst financial crisis since independence, with thousands demanding Rajapaksa and his influential family quit for mishandling the economy.

On Monday, hundreds of ruling party supporters rallied outside the official residence of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, the president's elder brother, before marching to a anti-government protest site outside the presidential office.

At the "Gota Go Gama" protest site, a tent village that emerged that last month to become the focal point of national protests, pro-government supporters - some armed with iron bars - attacked anti-government demonstrators, according to a Reuters witness.

Police used dozens of tear gas rounds and water cannon to break up the confrontation, the first major clash between pro-and anti-government camps after a wave of nationwide protests began in late March.

At least nine people injured in the clashes and facing breathing difficulties after inhaling tear were taken to Colombo's National Hospital, a hospital official said, declining to be named.

"This is a peaceful protest," Pasindu Senanayaka, an anti-government protestor told Reuters. "They attacked Gota Go Gama and set fire to our tents."

"We are helpless now, we are begging for help," Senanayaka said, as rings of black smoke spiralled out of a burning tent nearby and parts of the protest camp lay in disarray.

Dozens of paramilitary troops with riot shield and helmets were deployed to keep both groups apart after the initial clashes, and a curfew has been imposed across Sri Lanka's Western Province, which includes Colombo, a police spokesman said.

'BANKRUPT NATION'

Facing escalating anti-government protests, Rajapaksa's government last week declared a state of emergency for the second time in five weeks, but public discontent has steadily simmered, most recently because of a lack of cooking gas.

Sri Lankan energy companies said on Monday they were running low on stocks of liquid petroleum gas mainly used in cooking, as shortages of foreign exchange put renewed pressure on the island nation.

Hit hard by the pandemic, rising oil prices and tax cuts, Sri Lanka has as little as $50 million of useable foreign reserves, Finance Minister Ali Sabry said last week.

State-run Litro Gas chairman Vijitha Herath told Reuters Sri Lanka's foreign exchange crisis was causing a severe gas shortage with the company struggling to find adequate dollars for payments.

"With the involvement of the President we will get $7 million from the central bank to pay for a 3,500 metric tonne (MT) shipment, which is expected to arrive on Tuesday," he said.

Sri Lanka needs a minimum 40,000 MT a month for gas, which at current prices costs about $40m.

Long queues for cooking gas seen in recent days have frequently turned into impromptu protests as frustrated consumers block roads.

The second player in Sri Lanka's duopoly, Laugfs Gas, has less than 2000 MT of gas, which has been reserved for industries and hospitals. The company is also struggling to find dollars and is currently in talks to use its overseas assets to open letters of credit.

"We are a bankrupt nation. Banks don't have sufficient dollars for us to open lines of credit and we cannot go to the black market. We are struggling to keep our businesses afloat," Laugfs chairman W.H.K Wegapitiya said.

He estimated it would take at least another week for the company to secure a gas shipment.

Sri Lanka has approached the International Monetary Fund for a bailout, and will begin a virtual summit on Monday with officials from the multilateral lender aimed at securing emergency assistance.

(Reporting by Alasdair Pal and Uditha Jayasinghe in Colombo; Writing by Devjyot Ghoshal; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

Sri Lanka deploys troops to capital after clash at protest



Sri Lankan man pushes his bicycle as people demanding for cooking gas sit with their empty gas cylinders blocking a busy intersection for the second consecutive day in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Sunday, May 8, 2022. Diplomats and rights groups expressed concern Saturday after Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa declared a state of emergency and police used force against peaceful protesters amid the country's worst economic crisis in recent memory. 

(AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

KRISHAN FRANCIS and BHARATHA MALLAWARACHI
Mon, May 9, 2022, 

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) —

Authorities deployed armed troops in the capital Colombo on Monday hours after government supporters attacked protesters outside the offices of the president and prime minister of Sri Lanka.

Hundreds of armed soldiers were deployed in Colombo as protesters made accusations on local TV that police did not interfere to prevent the attack, despite using tear gas and water cannons on protesters as recently as Friday.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Authorities deployed armed troops in the capital Colombo on Monday hours after government supporters attacked protesters outside the offices of the president and prime minister of Sri Lanka.


Hundreds of armed soldiers were deployed in Colombo as protesters made accusations on local TV that police did not interfere to prevent the attack, despite using tear gas and water cannons on protesters as recently as Friday.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

___

Government supporters on Monday attacked protesters who have been camped outside the offices of Sri Lanka's president and prime minster, as trade unions began a “Week of Protests” demanding the government change and its president to step down over the country’s worst economic crisis in memory.

The Indian Ocean island nation is on the brink of bankruptcy and has suspended payments on its foreign loans. Its economic woes have brought on a political crisis, with the government facing widespread protests and a no-confidence motion in Parliament.

Supporters of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa rallied inside his office earlier Monday, urging him to ignore the protesters' demand to step down and requesting he remain in office.

After the meeting, they went to the front of the office where protesters have been demonstrating for several days. Local television channel Sirasa showed pro-government supporters attacking protesters with clubs and iron bars, demolishing and later burning down their tents.

Protesters made accusations on Sirasa TV that police did not interfere to prevent the attack, despite using tear gas and water cannons on protesters as recently as Friday.

At the main hospital in the capital Colombo, 23 wounded people have been admitted and their condition is not critical, an official said on condition of anonymity as she is not authorized to speak to the media.

The attack came as protesters marked their 31st day outside the president’s and prime minister's offices. They have been demanding that the president, his older brother Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and other powerful Rajapaksa family members quit. Similar protests have spread to other locations, with people setting up camps opposite the prime minister’s residence and in other towns across the country.

So far, the Rajapaksa brothers have resisted calls to resign, though three Rajapaksas out of the five who were lawmakers stepped down from their Cabinet posts in April.

Meanwhile, trade unions on Monday called for protests throughout this week, trade union activist Saman Rathnapriya said, and more than 1,000 unions representing health, port, education, and other key service sectors have joined the “Week of Protests" movement.

He said during the week, the workers will stage demonstrations at their workplaces across the country. At the end of the week, they will launch a huge march up to Parliament, demanding President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's removal and a new government.

For several months, Sri Lankans have endured long lines to buy fuel, cooking gas, food and medicine, most of which come from abroad. Shortages of hard currency have also hindered imports of raw materials for manufacturing and worsened inflation, which surged to 18.7% in March.

People blocked main roads to demand gas and fuel. On Sunday, local television channel Hiru showed people in some areas fighting over fuel.

Sri Lanka was due to pay $7 billion of its foreign debt this year out of nearly $25 billion it must pay by 2026. Its total foreign debt is $51 billion.

Sri Lanka’s finance minister announced earlier this week that the country’s usable foreign reserves have plummeted below $50 million.

As oil prices soar during the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Sri Lanka’s fuel stocks are running out. Authorities have announced countrywide power cuts will increase to about four a day because they can’t supply enough fuel to power generating stations.

Protesters have crowded the streets since March, maintaining that Rajapaksa and his family — who have dominated nearly every aspect of life in Sri Lanka for most of the last 20 years — are responsible for the crisis.

On Friday, Rajapaksa declared a state of emergency, which empowers him to authorize detentions, property seizure and search of any premises. He can also change or suspend any law in the interests of public security and for the maintenance of essential supplies. Diplomats and rights groups have expressed concern over the move.

Sri Lanka has been holding talks with the International Monetary Fund to get an immediate funding facility as well as a long-term rescue plan but was told its progress would depend on negotiations on debt restructuring with creditors.

Any long-term plan would take at least six months to get underway.