Sri Lanka police fire tear gas at anti-government protesters

Sri Lankan police fired tear gas at protesters demanding the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his government amid the country’s worst economic crisis in recent memory.

Thousands of protesters carrying Sri Lankan flags rode relatively few vehicles on the road while others rode bicycles due to severe fuel shortages, many walking from suburbs to the capital Colombo after police lifted an overnight curfew. protest site.

Protesters blamed Mr Rajapaksa for the economic woes and occupied the entrance to his office for three months.

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said last month that the country’s economy had collapsed. The government’s negotiations with the IMF are complicated because it has now entered into negotiations as a bankrupt country.

In April, Sri Lanka announced a moratorium on foreign loan repayments due to a shortage of foreign currency. Its total external debt stands at $51 billion (£42.4 billion), of which $28 billion (£23.3 billion) must be repaid by the end of 2027.

Police imposed a curfew in Colombo and several other major urban areas on Friday night, but lifted it on Saturday morning amid objections from lawyers and opposition politicians, who said it was illegal.

Riot police and military personnel were deployed in the city, and the area around the presidential residence was heavily barricaded.

U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka Julie Chung on Friday asked people to protest peacefully and called on the military and police to “give peaceful protesters the space and safety to do so.”

“Chaos and force will not solve economic problems or bring about the political stability Sri Lankans need now,” she tweeted.

The economic crisis has caused severe shortages of essentials such as fuel, gas and medicines, forcing people to queue up for limited supplies.

Months of protests have all but destroyed the Rajapaksa political dynasty that has ruled Sri Lanka for most of the past two decades.

One of Mr Rajapaksa’s brothers resigned as prime minister last month and two other brothers and a nephew resigned from the cabinet earlier, but Mr Rajapaksa remained in power.

Mr Wickremesinghe took over as prime minister in May after protests waned temporarily in hopes that he would find cash to meet the country’s urgent needs, but he is now expected to resign, saying he has failed to deliver on his promises.