What to know about the insurgency in Sri Lanka

Dor months, the 22 million inhabitants of this South Asian island have been suffering from food shortages, but also from electricity, gasoline and even medicine. Exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic and the Islamist attacks of Easter 2019, galloping inflation, estimated at 55% in June alone, makes the few things that can still be found inaccessible for a large part of the population. . Under pressure, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa decided to flee his palace in Colombo on Saturday July 9 before the onslaught of demonstrators exasperated by the situation. The head of state has promised to resign on Wednesday July 13.

READ ALSOIn Sri Lanka, the revenge of an angry people

The main things to know:

• The gronde is mounted in the spring. After defaulting on its $51 billion foreign debt in April, Sri Lanka sought help from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which called on Colombo to end corruption and substantially increase taxes. Thus, the sometimes violent protests multiplied within an exasperated population. The entire island nation has joined the revolt by staging protests across the country.
• Faced with protests, supporters of the president violently attacked demonstrators on May 9. Nine people were killed and hundreds injured in the clashes, which prompted the resignation of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, the president’s brother. At the same time, strike movements paralyzed the country. From then on, a general curfew was introduced.
• At the beginning of June, the government, which fears a famine, asks for help from the United Nations to replenish its stocks of basic food products. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) promises an emergency plan.
• Saturday, July 9, President Rajapaksa fled his palace stormed by hundreds of demonstrators and took refuge in the Maldives. “As the president has left the country, an emergency has been declared to deal with the situation in the country,” the Prime Minister’s spokesman, Dinouk Colombage, told AFP.
• President Rajapaksa must formalize his resignation on Wednesday July 13. As a result, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was named interim president. But Ranil Wickremesinghe is also challenged by protesters who have been mobilizing for three months. Police used tear gas on Wednesday to prevent the crowd from invading his official residence.
• After the formalization of his withdrawal, Parliament will then legally have one month to choose his successor. However, the Speaker of Parliament has promised a decision by the end of the week. A promise that may be difficult to keep, because for the moment no one among the parliamentarians seems able to obtain sufficient support.