Sri Lanka’s acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe gazetted orders late on Sunday for a state of emergency in the crisis-ridden island nation, in an effort to head off unrest ahead of a vote in parliament later this week to elect a new president.<\/p>\n
Sri Lanka’s beleaguered leaders have imposed a state of emergency several times since April, when public protests took hold against the government’s handling of a deepening economic crisis and a persistent shortage of essentials.<\/p>\n
“It is expedient, so to do, in the interests of public security, the protection of public order and the maintenance of supplies and services essential to the life of the community,” the notification stated.<\/p>\n
Wickremesinghe had announced a state of emergency last week, after president Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country to escape a popular uprising against his government, but it had not been officially notified or gazetted.<\/p>\n
Late on Sunday, Wickremesinghe \u2014 who was sworn in on July 15 as acting president \u2014 declared a fresh state of emergency, the specific legal provisions of which are yet to be announced by the government.<\/p>\n
Previous emergency regulations have been used to deploy the military to arrest and detain people, search private property and dampen public protests.<\/p>\n
The country’s commercial capital Colombo remained calm on Monday morning, with traffic and pedestrians out on the streets.<\/p>\n
Bhavani Fonseka, senior researcher at the Centre for Policy Alternatives, said declaring a state of emergency was becoming the government’s default response.<\/p>\n
“This has proven ineffective in the past,” Fonseka told Reuters.<\/p>\n
Rajapaksa fled to the Maldives and then Singapore last week after hundreds of thousands of anti-government protesters came out onto the streets of Colombo a week ago and occupied his official residence and office.<\/p>\n
Parliament accepted Rajapaksa’s resignation on Friday, and convened a day later to begin the process of electing a new president, with the vote set for Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The crisis-hit nation also received a shipment of fuel arrived to provide some relief amid the crippling shortages.<\/p>\n
Wickremesinghe, a six-time prime minister regarded as an ally of Rajapaksa, is one of the top contenders to take on the presidency full-time but protesters also want him gone, leading to the prospect of further unrest should he be elected.<\/p>\n
Sajith Premadasa, leader of the main opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) party, is another leading candidate, along with Dullas Alahapperuma, a senior ruling party lawmaker who served as the minister of mass media and a cabinet spokesperson.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sri Lanka’s acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe gazetted orders late on Sunday for a state of emergency in the crisis-ridden island nation, in an effort to head off unrest ahead of a vote in parliament later this week to elect a new president. Sri Lanka’s beleaguered leaders have imposed a state of emergency several times since […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":271952,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1771,390,793,683],"class_list":{"0":"post-271945","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-parliament","9":"tag-president","10":"tag-sri-lanka","11":"tag-vote"},"yoast_head":"\n