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Ex Sri Lanka PM thanks India for help amid mounting unrest in country: 10 points
Sri Lanka crisis: With soaring food prices, shortage of fuel and other essentials, locals have been pushed to the brink as the country deals with one of the worst crises in decades.
Tens of thousands of protesters descended on Sri Lanka streets on Saturday in one of the biggest demonstrations the South Asian country has seen amid the current economic crisis. With soaring food prices, shortage of fuel and other essentials, locals have been pushed to the brink as the country deals with one of the worst crises in decades. Pressure has been mounting on president Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his brother Mahinda Rajapaksa, the prime minister, to resign. “Go home Rajapaksas" and "We need responsible leadership,” read the placards amid powerful chants, news agency AP reported. Sri Lanka's main opposition party, Samagi Jana Balwegaya (SJB), has warned the government with a no trust motion if it fails to handle the crisis.
Here are ten updates on the Sri Lanka crisis:
1. Former prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, speaking to news agency ANI on Sunday, thanked India for the help. "I think India has helped to the maximum. We will have to see, and they are still helping in non-financial ways. So, we have to be thankful to them." He also clarified that "no heavy Chinese investment" has been done under the current dispensation. "They've sought investments but investments haven't come in...I think discussions are on about rescheduling of repayment of loans. They've to talked to the Chinese government, that's all I know."
2. The former PM also blamed the Rajpaksas for mismanagement. "The government didn't look after the economy. They were told several times to go to the IMF. They decided not to go on advice of the central bank and the treasury. People are paying the price now. It's understandable that they want a change," he told ANI.
3. The IMF on Saturday said it was "very concerned" about the Sri Lanka crisis, news agency Reuters reported. "We commit to assisting Sri Lanka consistent with our policies, and will engage in discussions on a possible programme with senior policymakers in the coming days and weeks. We are monitoring the political and economic developments very closely," IMF's mission chief for Sri Lanka, Masahiro Nozaki, told Reuters.
4. Sri Lanka parliament is set to reconvene on April 19 and the session will be held till April 22, according to reports. "Parliament is scheduled to convene on April 19 at 10.00 am and from 11.00 am to 4.30 pm," an official statement was cited by ANI.
5. "We have decided to bring a no confidence motion against Sri Lanka president Gotabaya Rajapaksa as he fails to address the country in connection with economic policies. We have called a meeting with all opposition leaders and will take a final decision on it soon," Sri Lanka leader of opposition, Sajith Premadasa, told ANI.
6. The country of 22 million has seen weeks of blackouts and massive shortage of essentials. Several business associations were also reported to be present at the Saturday's protest.
7. Nandalal Weerasinghe, the newly appointed governor of the central bank, said a series of monetary policy blunders had led to the current crisis with no dollars to finance many imports. "We are now in damage control mode," AFP quoted him as saying.
8. All 26 ministers of Mahinda Rajpaksa cabinet had quit about a week ago. New finance minister Ali Sabry told the parliament that IMF's support with 3 billion USD was expected. "We hope to get about a billion dollars a year in the next three years totalling a support of three billion," he told the parliament.
9. Sri Lanka is also facing a foreign exchange shortage, which has, incidentally, affected its capacity to import food and fuel, leading to the power cuts in the country.
10. President Rajapaksa earlier proposed the creation of a unity government following the en masse resignations, but the main opposition party rejected the idea. Parliament has failed to reach a consensus on how to deal with the crisis after nearly 40 governing coalition lawmakers said they would no longer vote according to coalition instructions, AP reported.
(With inputs from AP, Reuters, AFP, ANI)
