Sri Lanka Crisis LIVE Updates: Protesters raid Sri Lanka PM Ranil Wickremesinghe’s office after president flees abroad – The Economic Times
Sri Lanka Crisis LIVE Updates: Protesters in Sri Lanka defied tear gas, water cannon and a state of emergency to storm the prime minister’s office on Wednesday after the country’s embattled president fled overseas, with the crowd demanding both men step down in the face of an economic crisis. In a televised statement Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said he had instructed the military and police to do “what is necessary to restore order”.But armed security personnel stood by in the grounds of his office as protesters, some holding national flags, milled and took pictures. Other demonstrators at one point broke into state television studios, as the country’s months-long political and economic crisis appeared to be moving towards a climax.
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Peaceful transfer of power within Sri Lanka is essential: US
Amid the unrest in Sri Lanka, US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Julie Chung has urged for the peaceful transfer of power within the country’s constitutional framework and said that the US condemns all violence and calls for the rule of law to be upheld in the crisis-hit island nation. “We condemn all violence and call for the rule of law to be upheld,” she said in a tweet, stressing that a peaceful transfer of power within SL’s democratic and constitutional framework is essential so the people’s demands for accountability, transparency, democratic governance and a better future can be realized.
Nationwide curfew
A nationwide curfew has been imposed until Thursday morning in Sri Lanka in the wake of intensifying protests against the government. The notification was issued by Acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Wednesday. The curfew will remain in force till 5 am on July 14.
Wickremesinghe asks Speaker to nominate PM who is acceptable to all
Sri Lanka’s Acting President and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Wednesday asked Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena to nominate a Prime Minister who is acceptable to both the government and the Opposition. In a statement, the Prime Minister’s Office said that Prime Minister Wickremesinghe held a meeting with the Members of the Cabinet at his office on Monday.
Sri Lanka crisis: President flees and ire turns to PM
Sri Lanka’s president fled the country Wednesday, plunging a nation already reeling from economic chaos into more political turmoil. Protesters demanding a change in leadership then trained their ire on the prime minister and stormed his office. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his wife left aboard an air force plane bound for the Maldives, and he made his prime minister the acting president in his absence. That appeared to only further roil passions in the island nation, which has been gripped for months by an economic meltdown that has triggered severe shortages of food and fuel.
Adhir Chowdhury calls for all-party meet on Sri Lankan crisis
With Sri Lanka reeling from its worst economic crisis, senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Wednesday asked the Centre to convene an all-party meeting over the issue. Speaking to ANI, Chowdhury, “The ongoing crisis in Sri Lanka is a matter of concern. Prime Minister Narendra Modi should call for an all-party meeting for the national security interest.”
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