New Delhi: A 36-hour curfew, which was imposed in Sri Lanka in the wake of the political unrest, was lifted on Monday (April 4, 2022). All public transportation, including trains, Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB), and private buses, resumed their services after a nationwide curfew imposed by the government on Saturday was lifted.
Here are the latest developments in Sri Lanka:
Sri Lanka’s Cabinet of Ministers resign
Sri Lanka’s Cabinet of Ministers, including the prime minister’s son, resigned Sunday night following protests over a deepening economic crisis in the country.
Speaking to reporters, Education Minister and Leader of the House, Dinesh Gunawardena said the Cabinet Ministers handed over their resignations to Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. He, however, gave no reason for the mass resignation.
Now, a new Sri Lankan Cabinet is likely to be sworn in on Monday.
Protesters defy nationwide curfew, hold demonstrations
Widespread public protests were seen throughout the evening on Sunday in spite of the imposition of a curfew. Sri Lankan police fired tear gas and water cannons at hundreds of university students during a protest in the central province.
The enraged public has been demanding the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and has been protesting over the government’s poor handling of the economic crisis where people are currently enduring long hours of power outages and scarcity of essentials.
Sri Lanka govt lifts block placed on social media platforms
On Sunday afternoon, the Sri Lankan government lifted a block it had placed on social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter and Whatsapp hours earlier. Telecommunications Regulatory Commission Chairman Jayantha de Silva said the measure was carried out on instruction from the Defence Ministry and aimed to “maintain calm”.
Cause behind Sri Lanka’s ongoing economic crisis
Critics say the roots of the crisis, the worst in several decades, lie in economic mismanagement by successive governments that amassed huge budget shortfalls and a current account deficit.
The crisis was accelerated by deep tax cuts Rajapaksa promised during the 2019 election campaign and enacted months before the COVID-19 pandemic, which wiped out parts of Sri Lanka`s economy.
