Sri Lanka paralyzed by a general strike calling for the departure of President Rapajaksa


The people of Sri Lanka, who lack basic necessities, demonstrate their anger throughout the country every day, calling for the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the government of his brother Mahinda Rajapaksa, as here in Colombo, April 25, 2022 (AFP/Archives/Ishara S. KODIKARA)

A general strike paralyzed Sri Lanka on Thursday, at the call of a hundred unions demanding the departure of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his clan, accused of being responsible for the worst economic crisis to hit the country since its independence in 1948.

More than 100 unions, including some affiliated with the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) party, called for a halt to work all day Thursday, demanding that President Rajapaksa and his family step down.

Sri Lanka announced April 12 to default on its foreign debt of 51 billion dollars and opened talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout.

“Today is like a public holiday,” a police official told AFP, adding that “hospitals only treat emergencies.”

The island of 22 million people has suffered severe shortages of essentials (food, fuel, medicine) for months. The population has been protesting for several weeks accusing the Rajapaksa clan of having led the country to this situation.

Thousands of protesters have been laying siege to the president’s office in the capital since April 9, demanding his resignation.

Public transport is paralyzed, shops and offices have remained closed everywhere and even schools are sparsely attended, police and regional authorities said.

In Pettah, the capital’s main commercial area, wholesalers remained closed and workers took part in a march chanting: “Va-t-en Gota”.

Locals said vegetable markets were closed and the country’s tea plantations, the main source of export revenue, had ceased operations.

According to government officials, the president is due to meet with political party leaders on Friday. His elder brother, head of the family clan, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa repeated on Wednesday that he would not resign, saying he was sure he would not be sacked.

This historic crisis, blamed on the Covid-19 pandemic which deprived the South Asian island of the currencies of the tourism sector, has been aggravated by a series of bad political decisions, according to economists.

© 2022 AFP

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