Editor's Pick

11 MAY 2022

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Death toll in Sri Lanka rises to 8

On Tuesday, Sri Lankan police's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) was tasked with probing the concerted attack on anti-government protesters, the police said. This occurred a day after a pro-Rajapaksa mob went on a rampage at agitation sites in capital Colombo and in central Kandy district. The death toll in the attacks on anti-government protesters rose to eight on Tuesday.

Nearly 220 persons were hospitalised after suffering injuries in the brutal assault. Dozens of houses belonging to Ministers and Members of Parliament, including the Rajapaksas' ancestral village home, were torched. Mahinda Rajapaksa stepped down as the Sri Lankan Prime Minister on Monday, shortly after his supporters assaulted peaceful protesters.

After the attack, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said on Twitter: "I appeal and urge people to remain calm & stop violence & acts of revenge against citizens, irrespective of political affiliations. All efforts will be made to restore political stability through consensus, within constitutional mandate & to resolve economic crisis." Gotabaya is the sole Rajapaksa in power after the PM stepped down and dissolved his cabinet.

According to the Sri Lankan Constitution, the President must appoint as Prime Minister any lawmaker he thinks commands a majority in Parliament. However, the government has no Prime Minister-in-waiting, who has yet claimed having the confidence of the majority of lawmakers.

Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa has emphatically said he will not be part of any interim arrangement under the current President. Premadasa – chief of Samagi Jana Balawegaya – and his allies has fewer than half the number of seats in the 225-member Parliament. The Parliament stands adjourned till May 17.

Adding to Sri Lanka's woes, bilateral partners and creditors are hesitant to extend financial support amid the ongoing political crisis. "We are deeply concerned with the perpetration of violence in Sri Lanka. Those responsible are only standing in the way of the country's immediate economic recovery and making the task even more difficult for development partners," World Bank Country Director Faris Hadad-Zervos said.

Moreover, former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga warned of a possible military takeover of the country, appealing to citizens to oppose the government peacefully.

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