Sri Lanka deploys military to quell protests


President Gotabaya Rajapaksa decrees a 36-hour curfew. Demonstrators protest against shortages of food, fuel and medicine.

The Sri Lankan authorities announced on Saturday the establishment of a 36-hour curfew, following the protest movement triggered by the serious economic crisis in the country. The curfew will come into effect from Saturday evening until Monday morning, police said.

Armed troops with sweeping powers to arrest suspects had earlier been deployed to Sri Lanka on Saturday, hours after the president declared a state of emergency over escalating protests against him.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa declared a state of emergency on Friday evening, the day after hundreds of demonstrators attempted to break into his home to protest shortages of food, fuel and medicine. The Head of State justified his decision by “protection of public order and the maintenance of supplies and services essential to the life of the community“.

SEE ALSO – ‘This is the worst crisis since independence’: clashes in Sri Lanka after power cuts and food shortages

Troops with automatic weapons had previously been deployed to control crowds at gas stations and elsewhere, but there were more on Saturday.

In normal times, the army cannot act alone and must content itself with supporting the police, but with a state of emergency, it can intervene alone, in particular to arrest civilians.

The country of 22 million people is facing severe shortages of essential goods, a sharp rise in prices and long power cuts, in its worst economic crisis since its independence in 1948.

Tourism and remittances from the diaspora, vital for the economy, have collapsed during the pandemic and the authorities have imposed a wide ban on imports in an attempt to save foreign currency.

Many economists say the crisis has also been exacerbated by government mismanagement, mounting debt and ill-advised tax cuts. Mr Rajapaksa’s office on Friday accused the protesters of wanting to create a “Arab Spring“.



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