As unrest spreads across Sri Lanka, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa appeals for peace

“All efforts will be made to restore political stability through consensus, within constitutional mandate & to resolve economic crisis,” the embattled President tweeted.

Published on: May 10, 2022, 18:16:29 IST

By HT News Desk, New Delhi

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Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Tuesday appealed for peace, as the mostly peaceful anti-government protests on the island nation took an extremely violent turn. “I appeal and urge people to remain calm & stop violence & acts of revenge against citizens, irrespective of political affiliations,” Rajapaksa said on Twitter.

A worker sweeps the street alongside the burnt buses near Sri Lanka's former prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa's official residence 'Temple Trees', a day after they were torched by protesters in Colombo on May 10, 2022. (Photo by ISHARA S. KODIKARA / AFP)

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“All efforts will be made to restore political stability through consensus, within constitutional mandate & to resolve economic crisis,” he said.

The 72-year-old leader's appeal came a day after Sri Lanka witnessed its bloodiest day of the ongoing nationwide stir. In the country's largest city of Colombo, supporters of President Gotabaya attacked anti-government protesters; overall, at least eight people were killed and more than 200 injured in Colombo and other cities on Sunday.

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While authorities clamped a curfew and brought in the army, angry protesters went on a rampage and attacked the prime minister's official residence in the city; Mahinda Rajapaksa--the President's older brother--had resigned in the wake of the Colombo clashes. The military was forced to intervene to the now-former premier and his family.

According to some reports, Mahinda Rajapaksa is holed up at a naval base in the southern town of Trincomalee.

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Sri Lanka is in the throes of its worse economic crisis since 1948, when it won freedom from the British rule. Protests began in the second week of March and soon gained momentum to spread across the length and breadth of this country of 22 million inhabitants. A state of emergency is currently in effect, for the second time this year.

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