Sri Lanka

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — As hundreds of supporters of Sri Lanka's powerful Rajapaksa family stormed through the capital Monday, beating anti-government ...

“This is not going to end until Gota goes home,” he said, using a nickname for the president. “Protesters have put everyone in the same category because they’re seen as part of the problem that allowed this economic situation to brew month after month,” he said. Roger Warnakula, a disc jockey who has been at the encampment for weeks, said he and other protesters were outnumbered 10 to 1 when government supporters flooded the area, indiscriminately beating people with steel rods and wooden sticks. “People became so furious with the assault on protesters that things went out of hand,” Perera said, recalling how he tried to stop the fighting in downtown Colombo on Monday, only for it to sweep across the country as news of the clashes spread on social media. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, executive director of the Center for Policy Alternatives in Colombo, said the upheaval was compounding the country’s economic challenges. Outraged by Mahinda Rajapaksa’s attempt to crush the protest movement, his political opponents called Tuesday for him to face criminal liability. It is unclear whom he could name as prime minister who would be able to effectively unite the country’s divided factions. By the end of the day, Rajapaksa had resigned and the country was in turmoil. By Tuesday morning, the former prime minister had reportedly fled to a military base in the country’s northeast, which was soon surrounded by angry citizens. Peaceful demonstrators had gathered nightly in Colombo for the past month amid a spiraling economic crisis, calling on the ruling political family to step down. But political leaders and analysts voiced worries about one of Asia’s oldest democracies falling under military control if the situation deteriorated further. The circumstances of his death remained unclear.

Sri Lanka's defence ministry has ordered security forces to shoot anyone causing injury to people or property to contain widespread arson and mob violence ...

With Mahinda Rajapaksa’s resignation as prime minister, the cabinet was also dissolved, creating an administrative vacuum. Religious leaders and the lawyers’ Bar Association of Sri Lanka were in talks with political leaders on the formation of a new cabinet. In March, after citizens had endured critical shortages of fuel, cooking gas and medicine for months, the president finally contacted the IMF. Even though the president has the most power under the constitution, a prime minister and cabinet are needed to manage the government. Despite the curfew, hundreds of protesters swarmed the entrance to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s office in the capital Colombo for the 32nd day to demand that he follow in his brother’s footsteps and quit. Doctors have warned of crippling shortages of life-saving drugs in hospitals, and the government has suspended payments on 7 billion dollars in foreign debt due this year alone.

Sri Lanka's defence ministry has ordered troops to shoot on sight people involved in looting or damaging property, a day after mobs targeted the homes of ...

Another six people were wounded in violence elsewhere. The order came as the government deployed tens of thousands of army, navy and air force personnel to patrol tense streets of the capital Colombo and elsewhere after a day of violence. Sri Lanka is under a state of emergency since Friday giving sweeping powers to the military to arrest and detain suspects.

Colombo, Sri Lanka – With the resignation of Sri Lanka's prime minister and former two-time executive president Mahinda Rajapksa in Colombo on Monday, ...

The public however, has risen sharply against this approach and intensified their calls for the resignation of both the president and prime minister. On May 3, a no-trust motion was submitted in parliament against the Rajapaksa administration. He was defeated in 1977 when the United National Party recorded a landslide victory and returned to parliament in 1989. Large-scale corruption allegations were also leveled against the regime in military purchases during the years of civil war that ended in 2009. Mounting criticism against the government had intensified calls for the collective resignations of all Rajapaksas. But violence erupted in Colombo on Monday when a group of Rajapaksa loyalists attacked protesters camped outside his official residence, Temple Trees, in Colombo. At least three people were killed as violence erupted across the Indian Ocean island.

President under pressure to follow prime minister and resign after eight killed in clashes.

With Mahinda Rajapaksa’s resignation as prime minister, the cabinet was also dissolved, creating an administrative vacuum. Even though the president has the most power under the constitution, a prime minister and cabinet are needed to manage the government. He said 104 buildings and 60 vehicles were burned. Despite the curfew, hundreds of protesters swarmed the entrance to president Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s office in the capital Colombo for the 32nd day to demand that he follow in his brother’s footsteps and quit. “The defence ministry has ordered the tri-forces to shoot at persons involved in theft of public property or causing damage to individuals,” the ministry said in a text message. Eight people including a ruling party legislator and two police officers were killed and 219 were injured in the violence, said Kamal Gunaratne, secretary to the ministry of defence.

The EU condemns the recent vicious attack against peaceful protestors in Colombo, which triggered further violence after a month of peaceful demonstrations had ...

The EU urges all parties to refrain from violence and to show restraint. The European Union (EU) and its 27 Member States are monitoring closely developments in Sri Lanka. The EU condemns the recent vicious attack against peaceful protestors in Colombo, which triggered further violence after a month of peaceful demonstrations had shown, despite some isolated incidents, that Sri Lankans are able to exercise peacefully their right to freedom of expression. The EU deplores the loss of life, including of a Member of Parliament, and the high number of injured people.

A supporter of Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa waves a flag as he walks past a 02:01. A supporter of Sri Lankan President Gotabaya ...

But analysts familiar with Sri Lanka’s culture of dynastic patronage are not yet willing to write off the Rajapaksas as a political force. The Rajapaksa brothers instead oversaw a military operation that would defeat the Tamil Tigers, earning the support of Sri Lankans eager to end the civil war. But in the real world, there was no doubt that life was getting increasingly difficult for Sri Lankan citizens. It wasn’t long before Mahinda was ready to unleash a war that would “end” the Tamil Tigers, as he promised his electorate. But the Rajapaksas were not part of the urban political elites in the decades following independence. On Monday night, crowds stormed the prime minister’s official Temple Trees residence in Colombo, forcing the army to conduct a predawn operation to rescue Mahinda Rajapaksa and his family. Horrified by the gross human rights violations in Sri Lanka, Western governments began dropping Sri Lanka from aid disbursement lists. The Rajapaksa brothers have repeatedly denied responsibility for the disappearances. Over the past few years, as the family’s political fortunes enlarged, the investiture entourage of officials, diplomats and media teams dutifully trekked to sacred temples on historic sites, where yet another Rajapaksa was granted yet another portfolio. The current president’s father, D. A. Rajapaksa, was a parliamentarian representing Hambantota district. The president then swore in his eldest brother, Chamal Rajapaksa, as minister for irrigation, internal security, home affairs and disaster management. For several years, human rights defenders condemned the reprisals, massacres, crackdowns, corruption and cronyism of South Asia’s most powerful political dynasty.