It is gradually coming out of the state of emergency Sri Lanka, a measure that had been imposed during the mass anti-government demonstrations. The state of emergency will continue this week.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe sees no need for the state of emergency to remain in place as the country has “stabilised”.
Immersed in a very serious economic crisis, the island was paralyzed from April 9, when the mass mobilizations began against government policy due to shortages of essential goods, especially fuel, food and medicine. The crisis came to a head on July 9 when tens of thousands of people took to the streets of the capital and forced former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee the country, fleeing to Singapore and submit his resignation.
Mr Wickremesinghe, who succeeded Mr Rajapaksa, said he would take extremely tough measures against “all troublemakers”. But today he found that “the situation has stabilized, it is not necessary to reimpose the state of emergency after it expires this week,” according to a press release from his services.
The state of exception had been imposed on July 18 by the acting head of state, who theoretically has the right to renew the measure every month. The appointment of Mr Wickremesinghe, a six-time Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, was approved by Parliament on 20 July.
Negotiations with the IMF
Colombo is currently negotiating a $3 billion loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund, as continues to face enormous financial problems. Ratings agency S&P on Monday downgraded the island’s credit rating to D, meaning bankruptcy, as Colombo defaulted on its foreign debt, APE-MPE reported, citing Reuters, DPA and AFP.
The state of emergency, a measure strongly criticized by rights groups, allows security forces to arrest and detain suspects without warrants and the government to impose measures even if they do not comply with law to restore order.
Source: News Beast
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