Sri Lanka crisis explained in 5 points
Sri Lanka crisis: Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka’s president had promised to step down on Wednesday, after protesters barged inside his official residence a few days before. However, Parliament is yet to receive his resignation letter.
Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has fled the country and the Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has promised to resign in the face of massive protests and the economy’s collapse. To get up to speed, here’s a short FAQ with the key facts:
Why and how did President Gotabaya Rajapaksa flee?
He hasn’t given an official statement since news of his departure to the Maldives. The Sri Lankan Air Force said it provided a military plane for the 73-year-old, his wife and two bodyguards. Rajapaksa had promised to resign on Wednesday, after protesters stormed his official residence. People with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg News that they haven’t received his resignation yet.
What about the rest of his family? Who’s left behind?
Apart from Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the BBC reported that his younger brother Basil, a former finance minister, also fled. The whereabouts of two older brothers -- Mahinda, who was president from 2005 to 2015 and also served as prime minister, and Chamal -- are unknown. Mahinda’s son, 36-year-old Namal Rajapaksa, told Bloomberg News in a recent interview that his side of the family would “never leave the country” no matter how bad things got.
Why are Sri Lankans angry?
Anger against the government has been building for months, as the bankrupt nation’s 21 million people have turned to lining up for hours for increasingly expensive fuel and vital daily necessities, and are living with long power outages. Shortages of items like flour and milk powder are widespread and food inflation hovers at around 80%.
What are the causes of the crisis?
The country went bankrupt as a result of the Rajapaksa administration’s economic policies, which include imposing tax cuts that reduced government revenues just months before the pandemic wreaked havoc on the economy. Coupled with heavy debt and rising commodity prices, Sri Lanka fell deeper into crisis. With meager foreign exchange reserves, it struggled to pay for food and fuel. Officials raised rates, devalued the currency, restricted some imports and sought bailout talks with the International Monetary Fund.
But can’t Sri Lanka grow its own food?
The shortage of food can be traced back to a government ban on synthetic fertilizer in 2021, which meant farmers were unable to access organic fertilizer and abandoned their fields.
