Sri Lankan president declares emergency amid protests

By Ahmad Adil

NEW DELHI (AA) - Sri Lanka’s president has declared a state of emergency in the island nation, according to an official gazette issued on Friday.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa announced the emergency a day after a huge crowd gathered outside his home and demanded his resignation over the ongoing economic crisis in the country.

Rajapaksa said that the state of emergency is necessary "in the interests of public security, the protection of public order, and to maintenance of supplies and services essential to the life of the community."

On Thursday night, a large number of protesters had gathered outside the private residence of the president in Colombo. Rajapaksa blamed “organized extremists” for staging the protest.

Police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse the crowd and arrested a large number of protesters, according to local media.

Protesters claim that the Rajapaksa administration's improper practices caused the country’s foreign exchange reserves to deplete rapidly, severely impacting essential imports and leading to price increases for staple foods and shortages of essential items such as cooking gas and fuel.

The UN representative in the country Hanaa Singer-Hamdy on Friday called for restraint from all groups. "We are monitoring developments and are concerned by reports of violence in #SriLanka," she said on Twitter.

Sri Lanka has been reeling from the worst economic crisis, which has resulted in 13-hour-long rolling blackouts, and a shortage of fuel, food, and medicines supply.

The country, which needs to repay an estimated $7.3 billion in domestic and foreign loans over the next 12 months, was left with reserves of $2.31 billion as of February and may go bankrupt.