Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa vowed to install a new cabinet under a newly appointed Prime Minister (PM) after consulting with all political parties to ensure that the PM “commands the majority in the Parliament.”
According to the Daily Mirror, Rajapaksa contacted Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) leader Sarath Fonseka to offer the position, provided that he could secure the support of the Parliament. It remains unclear if Fonseka will accept the offer, given that his party’s leader, Sajith Premadasa, rejected the same request from the president just last week.
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Addressing the nation, Rajapaksa said that the new government will be set up by the end of this week to “prevent the country from falling into anarchy as well as to maintain the affairs of the government that have been halted.” He expressed hope that the new appointments would win back the people’s confidence.
📸Security tightened
— NewsWire 🇱🇰 (@NewsWireLK) May 11, 2022
Heavily armed Army personnel and Army vehicles were seen deployed in many parts of the couy as the islandwide curfew continues for the second day in Sri Lanka, amidst the crisis situation. pic.twitter.com/qURoCXBTjz
In addition, he reiterated his promise to amend the constitution and reintroduce the 19th Amendment in order to give the cabinet and the new PM the “opportunity to present a new programme and to take the country forward.” The amendment was introduced in 2015 to curb the powers of the president and appoint the Parliament as the supreme decision-making body of the country. However, it was then revoked by Rajapaksa in 2020, when he introduced the 20th amendment, which increased the president’s executive powers. It was criticised for centralising the powers in the President’s hands and creating an imbalance between the legislature, judiciary, and the executive.
Notably, Rajapaksa has also agreed to allow the new PM to appoint a fresh cabinet. In fact, the president named a new cabinet just last month, after all 26 ministers resigned overnight on April 3 in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to appease protesters.
Relieved - despite police instructions that #GotaGoGama contravenes curfew regulations, crowds remain at Galle Face, Colombo, #SriLanka, no violence reported overnight pic.twitter.com/TIQXM9XQvJ
— Amantha (@AmanthaP) May 11, 2022
In this regard, Rajapaksa also addressed Monday’s violent clashes between pro- and anti-government protesters that turned violent and left at least eight dead and close to 200 injured. In fact, the clashes led to the further intensification of demonstrations, with protesters burning down the homes of the Rajapaksa and several other current and former SLPP members.
The president condemned the acts of violence, which he said were conducted in an “organised manner throughout the country.” He declared that the “series of murders, assaults, intimidation and destruction of property that followed cannot be justified.”
To this end, he announced that the Inspector General of Police had begun investigation into the incident. Furthermore, he declared that security forces had been asked to “strictly enforce the law against the rioters.” In this regard, he urged citizens and opposition parties to assist in “maintaining the state machinery” to protect public and public property.
#SriLankaCrisis THE AFTERMATH❕
— Dasuni Athauda (@AthaudaDasuni) May 11, 2022
Cleaning personnel seen working late at night, despite an islandwide curfew - collecting debris and broken glass shards of buses that were vandalized on Monday.
Police on site ready to Tow the buses out of the main road. #lka #SriLanka pic.twitter.com/EGCmiPrtyd
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, 12 protestors were arrested near the Parliament for allegedly damaging public property and “violating the rights” of Members of Parliament. According to Daily Mirror, police stations were instructed to “exercise their maximum legal powers including to open fire on those involved in violent incidents.” Furthermore, the Tamil Guardian reported that the armed forces have been deployed across Colombo after the Ministry of Defence ordered them to “shoot anyone looting public property or causing harm to others.”
However, in an exclusive interview with NDTV, Sri Lankan Secretary to the Defence Ministry General G.D.H. Kamal Gunaratne said that the security forces have been asked to shoot at crowds only as a last resort. He explained the “three step process” of the orders, saying that the security forces have been asked to first “fire warning shots in the air.” Thereafter, police officers would “open fire below the knee level.” He noted that the army would only be brought in if the mob continued to be violent.
This is the time for all Sri Lankans to join hands as one, to overcome the economic, social & political challenges.
— Gotabaya Rajapaksa (@GotabayaR) May 11, 2022
I urge all #Srilankans to reject the subversive attempts to push you towards racial & religious disharmony. Promoting moderation, toleration & coexistence is vital.
Apart from the state of emergency he declared last Friday and the shooting orders announced on Tuesday, the President also announced a nationwide curfew from Monday until Thursday and deployed the military to maintain law and order. However, protests have continued outside the Galle Face Green in Colombo in defiance of the orders.
Tens of thousands of citizens have been protesting for over two months over a spiralling economic and political crisis. A foreign reserve shortage has caused Sri Lanka to default on $51 billion of foreign debt and led to record-high inflation and severe shortages of food, medicine, and fuel. Opposition leader Premadasa warned this week that the government could use the unrest as a pretext to establish military rule.