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Sri Lankan president agrees to resign after protesters storm his official residence

Categories: South Asia, Sri Lanka, Breaking News, Digital Activism, Disaster, Governance, Human Rights, International Relations, Media & Journalism, Politics, Protest, War & Conflict, Sri Lanka in crisis
People taking back power. At the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Image by Amalini. Used with permission. [1]

People taking back power. At the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo, Sri Lanka. July 9, 2022. Image by Amalini [2]. Used with permission.

On July 9, Sri Lankans were pushed to their breaking point by the rising prices and acute shortage of fuel, food and medicines among other things. Thousands of people from all over the country marched toward [3] the president's official residence [4] in the capital Colombo demanding the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa [5]. Incredible scenes of people marching toward the official residence of the president and storming [6] the house flooded social media, evoking memories of the US Capitol siege [7] on January 6, 2021. The president fled to an undisclosed location and news came out that he will resign [8] in the coming days.

Amidst public protests [9], Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned on May 9, 2022. However, his brother, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa stayed in power despite ongoing protests.

Sri Lankans on the Brink

On July 5, 2022, Sri Lankan incumbent Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe declared [10] that the country is “bankrupt” and the nation is facing challenges to negotiate with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to revive the country's economy. Sri Lanka is facing its worst-ever economic crisis [11] as foreign currency shortages prohibited it from importing essential items such as fuel, food and medicine. The crisis is precipitated by a series of major economic blunders [12], which led the country to default [13] on its foreign debt repayment last May.

Read our special coverage: Sri Lanka in Crisis [14]

On July 4, 2022, the country only had one day’s worth of fuel in its reserves [15] which immediately forced all public transport to halt. Citizens faced long queues at the fuel stations to refill their cooking gas or fuel for transport. While the army has been guarding [16] the country's fuel stations since last March, there have been reports of sporadic clashes outside fuel stations and troops had to open fire [17] on June 19 to stop riots over fuel.

Activist and blogger Amalini shared a Twitter thread [18] explaining how the fuel crisis has impacted lives in the island nation.

Twitter user Sri Lanka Tweet reports that 14 people have died so far while waiting in long queues for fuel.

However, the nation will have to wait until July 22 for the next shipment of fuel [30].

As of June 2022, food inflation in Sri Lanka rose to an all-time high [31] of 80.1 percent. As per a UNICEF survey, over 70 percent of Sri Lankan households had to curtail [32] food consumption. Many businesses and schools have been closed [33]. With rising unemployment, many urban dwellers returned to their villages to survive by growing their own food.

Peace-building activist Nabeela shared a Twitter thread titled “How are you surviving? #lka [34]” which depicts how economically marginalized people are reeling under this economic crisis.

“Our day has come!” Anatomy of a people's uprising

The economic crisis, severe inflation, daily blackouts, shortage of fuel and other essential items have pushed the Sri Lankan people to engage in peaceful and spontaneous protests [37] since mid-March this year. The Occupy Galle Face sit-in protests at Galle Face Green [38], a large park in Colombo's financial district, also known as “Gota Gogama [39],” started on April 9, 2022. These protests, led by the social media savvy youth, including students, teachers, doctors and other professionals, are effectively leaderless. They set up dozens of tents to occupy the greenspace and sympathetic citizens have supported them by donating water, food and medicines. Participants are wary of politicians, both from the ruling party and the opposition.

After 30 days of peaceful protests, on May 9, 2022, supporters of the Rajapaksa regime attacked [41] the protesters outside of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa's residence in Colombo and destroyed the tents at the Gota Gogama [39]. After that, protests intensified [42] and finally, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned [43] although his brother Gotabaya Rajapaksa nominally remained president.

The new Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and the incumbent President Gotabaya Rajapaksa couldn't do much to bring respite to Sri Lankans. The country slowly was steered into a virtual lockdown [44] because the fuel supply had run out and both public and private transport came to a halt. The public anger reached a boiling point and the protestors at Gota Gogama announced a “massive people’s protest” for July 9. Their demand, publicised [45] on July 5, 2022, includes the resignation of both the prime minister and the president who will be replaced by an “interim government”, which has been promoted by opposition parties in parliament. A “Peoples Council” has also been proposed, where representatives from the protestors will work closely with the interim government.

On July 9, 2022, thousands of protesters marched toward the capital Colombo. Journalist Azzam Ameen tweeted:

Amalini shared images that the buses and trains towards Colombo were packed with protesters.

Twitter user Kithmina Hewage reminded everyone why the protesters were here:

Twitter user Sachin Unamboowe celebrates the power of people:

At one point in the day, the protesters stormed [6] into the president's residence and images on social media showed people occupying the bedroom, swimming pool [60], and offices of the house. In one image [61], an old lady protestor was seen sitting in the presidential chair. Protesters later torched [62] the prime minister's house.

Amalini shared:

On July 9th night, Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, the speaker of Sri Lanka's Parliament, informed [65] the public in a televised statement that the president agreed to resign on July 13. Prime Minister Wickremasinghe has also agreed [8] to resign, but mentioned that he will stay until a new government is formed.

Devika Brendon shares the emotions at the Citizen journalism website Groundviews [66] in an article titled “Our Day Has Come!”:

We are drained. At last, after a ninety-day struggle, we have a lot to celebrate but nothing left to celebrate with. No fuel, no kerosene, no petrol. No energy.

And once we clear the last vestiges of the former regime from the seats of power, we have work to do.

A scene of a living, breathing 'monument' of people. Colombo July 9, 2022. Image by Amalini via Twitter. Used with permission. [67]

A scene of a living, breathing ‘monument’ of people. Colombo, July 9, 2022. Image by Amalini [68] via Twitter. Used with permission.

Researcher and journalist Bhavani Fonseka at Carnegie Endowment For International Peace celebrates [69] the power of citizen mobilization which shaped the recent protests:

The changes brought about in the last few weeks give hope that sustained, innovative, and inclusive citizen mobilization has a chance to transform Sri Lanka.