Sri Lanka’s Parliament speaker says President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has resigned and Parliament will convene to choose a new leader after massive protests took over government buildings to force him out of office. Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeyweardana said Friday that the Parliament will convene Saturday to start the process of electing a new president. He expects to compete the process within seven days. Their new choice as president will serve the remainder of Rajapaksa’s term, which ends in 2024. That person could potentially appoint a new prime minister, who would then have to be approved by Parliament. Rajapaksa fled the country Wednesday amid mounting protests for him to resign. He arrived in Singapore on Thursday and the speaker said Rajapaksa's resignation was effective on that date. Also read: Protesters retreat as Sri Lankan president sends resignation “To be validated like this is massive,” said Viraga Perera, an engineer who has been protesting since April and estimated that he has spent 60 or 70 nights there in all. “On a global scale, we have led a movement that toppled a president with minimal force and violence. It’s a mix of victory and relief.” Protesters who had occupied government buildings retreated Thursday, restoring a tenuous calm in the capital, Colombo. But with a fractured opposition, a solution to Sri Lanka’s many woes seemed no closer. Abeywardana said he will ensure the process of electing a new president will be swift and transparent. “I request the honorable and loving citizens of this country to create a peaceful atmosphere in order to implement the proper Parliamentary democratic process and enable all members of Parliament to participate in the meetings and function freely and conscientiously," he said Friday. The protesters accuse Rajapaksa and his powerful political family of siphoning money from government coffers for years and his administration of hastening the country’s collapse by mismanaging the economy. The family has denied the corruption allegations, but Rajapaksa acknowledged that some of his policies contributed to the meltdown. Also read: Sri Lankan armed forces empowered to use force following clashes Months of protests reached a frenzied peak over the weekend when demonstrators stormed the president’s home and office and the official residence of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. On Wednesday, they seized Wickremesinghe’s office. Images of protesters inside the buildings — lounging on elegant sofas and beds, posing at officials’ desks and touring the opulent settings — captured the world’s attention. The demonstrators initially vowed to hold those places until a new government was in place, but the movement shifted tactics Thursday, apparently concerned that any escalation in violence could undermine their message following clashes the previous night outside the Parliament that left dozens injured. “The fear was that there could be a crack in the trust they held for the struggle,” said Nuzly, a protest leader who goes by only one name. “We’ve shown what power of the people can do, but it doesn’t mean we have to occupy these places.” Devinda Kodagode, another protest leader, told The Associated Press they planned to vacate official buildings after the speaker said he was exploring legal options for the country in the wake of Rajapaksa’s departure. Visaka Jayaweer, a performing artist, described the bittersweet moment of closing the gate to the presidential palace after the crowds cleared out. “Taking over his residence was a great moment. It showed just how much we wanted him to step down. But it is also a great relief” to leave, she said. “We were worried if people would act out — many were angry to see the luxury he had been living in when they were outside, struggling to buy milk for their children.” The country remains a powder keg, and the military warned Thursday that it had powers to respond in case of chaos — a message some found concerning. Troops in green uniforms and camouflage vests arrived in armored vehicles to reinforce barricades around the Parliament, while protesters vowed to continue holding rallies outside the president’s office until a new government was in place. Rajapaksa and his wife fled Sri Lanka early Wednesday for the Maldives, slipping away in the night aboard a military plane. On Thursday, he went to Singapore, according to the city-state’s Foreign Ministry. It said he had not requested asylum. Since Sri Lankan presidents are protected from arrest while in power, it’s likely Rajapaksa wanted to plan his departure while he still had constitutional immunity and access to the plane. The protests underscored the dramatic fall of the Rajapaksa political clan that has ruled Sri Lanka for most of the past two decades. A military strategist whose brutal campaign helped end the country’s 26-year civil war, Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his brother, who was president at the time, were hailed by the island’s Buddhist Sinhalese majority. Despite accusations of wartime atrocities, including ordering military attacks on ethnic Tamil civilians and abducting journalists, Rajapaksa remained popular among many Sri Lankans. He has continually denied the allegations. The shortages of basic necessities have sown despair among Sri Lanka’s 22 million people. The country’s rapid decline was all the more shocking because, before the recent crisis, the economy had been expanding, with a growing, comfortable middle class. It was not immediately clear if Singapore would be Rajapaksa’s final destination, but he has previously sought medical care there, including undergoing heart surgery.

Sri Lanka’s embattled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa left the Maldives on Thursday after fleeing his own country amid mass protests demanding he resign over his country's economic collapse. A Maldives government official said Rajapaksa boarded a flight of Saudia, formerly known as Saudi Arabian Airlines, on Thursday bound for Singapore. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. Rajapaksa and his wife fled Sri Lanka early Wednesday aboard an air force jet as protesters were taking over government buildings to demand he resign. Rajapaksa promised over the weekend he would do so, but instead he named his prime minister acting president in his absence, further incensing those who blame the government for the crisis. Meanwhile Thursday, the government announced a curfew in the capital Colombo and its suburbs to run until 5 a.m. Friday and protesters were withdrawing from the presidential palace after occupying it during the weekend. Some were seen unrolling a red carpet in the palace as they left. Anticipating more protests after a group attempted to storm the Parliament’s entrance a day earlier, troops in green military uniforms and camouflage vests arrived by armored personnel carriers Thursday to reinforce barricades around the building. Some protesters had posted videos on social media pleading with others not to storm the Parliament, fearing an escalation of violence. Protest leader Devinda Kodagode told The Associated Press they were vacating official buildings after the Parliament speaker said he was seeking legal options to consider since Rajapaksa left without submitting his resignation letter as promised. The protesters accuse the president and his powerful political family of siphoning money from government coffers for years and Rajapaksa’s administration of hastening the country’s collapse by mismanaging the economy. The family has denied the corruption allegations, but Rajapaksa acknowledged some of his policies contributed to the meltdown. It was not immediately clear what Rajapaksa’s destination would be. Maldives officials initially indicated he planned to travel onward to Saudi Arabia, but later could only confirm his first stop in Singapore. Since Sri Lankan presidents are protected from arrest while in power it’s likely Rajapaksa planned his departure while he still had constitutional immunity and access to a military jet. Read: Sri Lanka protests: One dead and 84 injured, say hospital officials On Wednesday, protesters undeterred by multiple rounds of tear gas scaled the walls to enter the office of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as the crowd outside cheered in support and tossed water bottles to them. Protesters took turns posing at the prime minister's desk or stood on a rooftop terrace waving the Sri Lankan flag. Amid the mounting chaos, Wickremesinghe’s office imposed a state of emergency giving broader powers to the military and police. Defense leaders have called for calm and cooperation with security forces — comments that have rankled some lawmakers who insist civilian leaders would be the ones to find a solution. The protesters blame the Rajapaksas for leading the country into an economic abyss, but they are also furious with Wickremesinghe. They believe he has protected the president and that his appointment in May alleviated pressure on Rajapaksa to resign. Wickremesinghe also has said he will resign, but not until a new government is in place. He has urged the speaker of Parliament to find a new prime minister agreeable to both the ruling and opposition parties. It's unclear when that might happen since the opposition is deeply fractured. But assuming that Rajapaksa resigns as promised, Sri Lankan lawmakers have agreed to elect a new president on July 20 who will serve the remainder of Rajapaksa’s term, which ends in 2024. That person could potentially appoint a new prime minister, who would then have to be approved by Parliament. The political impasse threatens to worsen the bankrupt nation’s economic collapse since the absence of an alternative government could delay a hoped-for bailout from the International Monetary Fund. In the meantime, the country is relying on aid from India and China. The shortages of basic necessities have sown despair among Sri Lanka’s 22 million people. The country’s rapid decline was all the more shocking because, before the recent crisis, the economy had been expanding, with a growing, comfortable middle class. “Gotabaya resigning is one problem solved — but there are so many more,” said Bhasura Wickremesinghe, a 24-year-old student of maritime electrical engineering, who is not related to the prime minister. He complained that Sri Lankan politics have been dominated for years by “old politicians” who all need to go. “Politics needs to be treated like a job — you need to have qualifications that get you hired, not because of what your last name is,” he said, referring to the Rajapaksa family. After the president fled to the Maldives the whereabouts of other Rajapaksa family members who had served in the government were unclear.

One person has died and 84 others injured after protests rocked the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo on Wednesday, hospital officials have said. The 26-year-old man died from breathing difficulties after police forces lobbied tear gas at protesters, reports BBC. Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was appointed acting president after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country. But the decision triggered further protests demanding that he also resign. A military spokesperson told the BBC said that a soldier and police officer were amongst the injured, and alleged that an assault rifle with ammunition had been stolen by a protester and had not yet been recovered. Early on Thursday, Sri Lanka imposed a new curfew, which would be in place from 12:00 on Thursday till 05:00 on Friday, said the government in a statement. The protests come as Sri Lanka has been suffering from its worst economic crisis in decades. Many blame the Rajapaksa administration for the crisis and see Mr Wickremesinghe, who became prime minister in May, as part of the problem. Hospital officials at the Colombo National Hospital said the injuries came from protesters who were outside the prime minister's office as well as those who were outside parliament later in the evening. Police had fired tear gas at protesters who attempted to break down the gates of the prime minister's office in Colombo, before finally making their way in. They later made their way towards parliament. In a television address late on Wednesday, Mr Wickremesinghe had called on protesters to leave his occupied office and other state buildings and co-operate with authorities. Read: Sri Lanka waits in confusion, anger for president to resign He also told the military to do "whatever is necessary" to restore order. His statement came hours after Mr Rajapaksa had fled to the Maldives - days after his official residence was stormed. Mr Rajapaksa had pledged to resign by Wednesday, but is still yet to submit a formal letter of resignation. The leader, who has enjoyed immunity from prosecution as president, is believed to have wanted to flee abroad before stepping down to avoid the possibility of arrest by the new administration. The president's departure threatens a potential power vacuum in Sri Lanka, which needs a functioning government to help dig it out of financial ruin. Politicians from other parties have been talking about forming a new unity government but there is no sign they are near agreement yet. It's also not clear if the public will accept what they come up with. In a press statement on Wednesday, Mr Wickremesinghe's team said he had asked the speaker of parliament to nominate a new prime minister "who is acceptable to both the government and opposition". Earlier on Monday, the main opposition leader Sajith Premadasa told the BBC he would be tilting for the presidency. But he - like Mr Wickremesinghe - lacks public support. There is also deep public suspicion of politicians in general. The protest movement which has brought Sri Lanka to the brink of change also does not have an obvious contender for the country's leadership. Sri Lanka: The basics Sri Lanka is an island nation off southern India: It won independence from British rule in 1948. Three ethnic groups - Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim - make up 99% of the country's 22 million population. One family of brothers has dominated for years: Mahinda Rajapaksa became a hero among the majority Sinhalese in 2009 when his government defeated Tamil separatist rebels after years of bitter and bloody civil war. His brother Gotabaya, who was defence secretary at the time, is the current president but says he is standing down. Presidential powers: The president is the head of state, government and the military in Sri Lanka but does share a lot of executive responsibilities with the prime minister, who heads up the ruling party in parliament. Now an economic crisis has led to fury on the streets: Soaring inflation has meant some foods, medication and fuel are in short supply, there are rolling blackouts and ordinary people have taken to the streets in anger with many blaming the Rajapaksa family and their government for the situation.

Military troops were moving Thursday to secure Sri Lanka’s parliament building against a takeover by protesters infuriated by the country’s economic collapse and the embattled president’s failure to resign a day after fleeing the country. With the country sinking into political chaos, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his wife fled to the Maldives on Wednesday aboard an air force jet. He made the prime minister acting president in his absence — a move that further roiled passions among a public that blames Rajapaksa for an economic crisis that has caused severe shortages of food and fuel. Rajapaksa had promised to resign by Wednesday night, and since Sri Lankan presidents are protected from arrest while in power it’s likely he planned his departure while he still had constitutional immunity and access to a military jet. It was unclear exactly where he was in the Maldives, an archipelago of hundreds of islands dotted with luxury tourist resorts, and where he planned to travel next. Troops in green military uniforms and camouflage vests arrived by armored personnel carriers at the parliament building, anticipating more protests after a group attempted to storm the entrance the previous day, clashing with police who fended them off with tear gas and batons. Some protesters posted videos on social media pleading with others not to storm the Parliament, fearing an escalation of violence. On Wednesday, protesters who were undeterred by multiple rounds of tear gas scaled the walls to enter the office of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as the crowd outside cheered in support and tossed water bottles to them. Protesters took turns posing at the prime minister’s desk or stood on a rooftop terrace waving the Sri Lankan flag. “We need both ... to go home,” said Supun Eranga, a 28-year-old civil servant in the crowd on Wednesday. “Ranil couldn’t deliver what he promised during his two months, so he should quit. All Ranil did was try to protect the Rajapaksas.” Read:Thousands protest against Sri Lanka's new acting president Demonstrators also have crowded inside the presidential palace they began occupying over the weekend and are vowing to stay in both buildings to press their demands for a new government. Some set fire to Wickremesinghe’s private residence, and his whereabouts were unknown. Wickremesinghe’s office has imposed a state of emergency giving broader powers to the military and police. Defense leaders have called for calm and cooperation with security forces — comments that have rankled some lawmakers who insist civilian leaders would be the ones to find a solution. The protesters blame Rajapaksa and his powerful, dynastic family for leading the country into an economic abyss, but they are also furious with Wickremesinghe, whom they accuse of protecting the president. Many believe that his appointment in May alleviated pressure on Rajapaksa to resign. Both leaders said after the protests escalated over the weekend that they would resign, but Wickremesinghe said he will not leave until a new government is in place. He has urged the speaker of Parliament to find a new prime minister agreeable to both the ruling and opposition parties. It’s unclear when that might happen since the opposition is deeply fractured. But assuming that Rajapaksa resigns as promised, Sri Lankan lawmakers have agreed to elect a new president on July 20 who will serve the remainder of Rajapaksa’s term, which ends in 2024. That person could potentially appoint a new prime minister, who would then have to be approved by Parliament. The political impasse threatens to worsen the bankrupt nation’s economic collapse since the absence of an alternative government could delay a hoped-for bailout from the International Monetary Fund. In the meantime, the country is relying on aid from India and China. Protesters accuse the president and his relatives of siphoning money from government coffers for years and Rajapaksa’s administration of hastening the country’s collapse by mismanaging the economy. The family has denied the corruption allegations, but Rajapaksa acknowledged some of his policies contributed to the meltdown. The shortages of basic necessities have sown despair among Sri Lanka’s 22 million people. The country’s rapid decline was all the more shocking because, before the recent crisis, the economy had been expanding, with a growing, comfortable middle class. “Gotabaya resigning is one problem solved — but there are so many more,” said Bhasura Wickremesinghe, a 24-year-old student of maritime electrical engineering, who is not related to the prime minister. He complained that Sri Lankan politics have been dominated for years by “old politicians” who all need to go. “Politics needs to be treated like a job — you need to have qualifications that get you hired, not because of what your last name is,” he said, referring to the Rajapaksa family. After the president fled to the Maldives the whereabouts of other Rajapaksa family members who had served in the government were unclear.

Sri Lankans woke up to confusion on Thursday, still waiting for their embattled president to resign after he fled the country, as the island nation fumes over an economic meltdown that has sparked political chaos. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his wife fled to the Maldives on Wednesday aboard an air force jet. He made the prime minister acting president in his absence — a move that further roiled passions among a public that blames Rajapaksa for an economic crisis that has caused severe shortages of food and fuel. On Wednesday, protesters, undeterred by multiple rounds of tear gas, scaled the walls to enter the office of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as the crowd outside cheered in support and tossed water bottles to them. Protesters took turns posing at the prime minister's desk or stood on a rooftop terrace waving the Sri Lankan flag after the latest in a series of takeovers of government buildings by the demonstrators — who see the political maneuvers as delaying their goal of a new government. Late on Wednesday night, crowds also gathered outside the Parliament. Demonstrators clashed with security officers who fired tear gas into the air. Wickremesinghe's office declared a nationwide curfew and imposed a state of emergency giving broader powers to the military and police. The curfew was lifted early Thursday. Over the weekend, the two leaders both said they would resign after protesters stormed Rajapaksa's and Wickremesinghe's official residences in a dramatic escalation of months of protests. Some set fire to Wickremesinghe's private residence, and his whereabouts were unknown. The protesters blame Rajapaksa and his powerful, dynastic family for leading the country into an economic abyss, but they are also furious with Wickremesinghe, whom they accuse of protecting the president. Many believe that his appointment in May alleviated pressure on Rajapaksa to resign. “We need both ... to go home,” said Supun Eranga, a 28-year-old civil servant in the crowd on Wednesday. “Ranil couldn’t deliver what he promised during his two months, so he should quit. All Ranil did was try to protect the Rajapaksas.” Read:Sri Lanka in crisis: President flees and ire turns to PM But Wickremesinghe has said he will not leave until a new government is in place. He has urged the speak of Parliament to find a new prime minister agreeable to both the ruling and opposition parties. It's unclear when that might happen since the opposition is deeply fractured. But assuming that Rajapaksa resigns as planned, Sri Lankan lawmakers have agreed to elect a new president on July 20 who will serve the remainder of Rajapaksa’s term, which ends in 2024. That person could potentially appoint a new prime minister, who would then have to be approved by Parliament. The political impasse threatens to worsen the bankrupt nation’s economic collapse since the absence of an alternative government could delay a hoped-for bailout from the International Monetary Fund. In the meantime, the country is relying on aid from neighboring India and from China. With the country in disarray, Chief of Defense Staff Gen. Shavendra Silva called for calm and for cooperation with security forces. Similar comments have rankled opposition lawmakers, who insisted that civilian leaders would be the ones to find a solution. Protesters accuse the president and his relatives of siphoning money from government coffers for years and Rajapaksa’s administration of hastening the country’s collapse by mismanaging the economy. The family has denied the corruption allegations, but Rajapaksa acknowledged some of his policies contributed to the meltdown, which has left the island nation laden with debt and unable to pay for imports of basic necessities. The shortages have sown despair among Sri Lanka’s 22 million people. The country’s rapid decline was all the more shocking because, before the recent crisis, the economy had been expanding, with a growing, comfortable middle class. “Gotabaya resigning is one problem solved — but there are so many more,” said Bhasura Wickremesinghe, a 24-year-old student of maritime electrical engineering, who is not related to the prime minister. He complained that Sri Lankan politics have been dominated for years by “old politicians” who all need to go. “Politics needs to be treated like a job — you need to have qualifications that get you hired, not because of what your last name is,” he said, referring to the Rajapaksa family. After the president fled to the Maldives the whereabouts of other Rajapaksa family members who had served in the government were unclear. Local media in the Maldives reported Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s planned travel to another country was delayed, forcing him to remain in the Indian Ocean archipelago Wednesday night. Sri Lankan presidents are protected from arrest while in power, and it is likely Rajapaksa planned his escape while he still had constitutional immunity. A corruption lawsuit against him in his former role as a defense official was withdrawn when he was elected president in 2019.

Sri Lanka's Speaker of Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena said on Wednesday that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has appointed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to perform and discharge the powers and duties of the president. Read: India denies helping Prez Gotabaya flee Sri Lanka Rajapaksa has appointed Wickremesinghe in accordance with the constitution, as Rajapaksa was away from the country, the speaker said in a statement.

India on Wednesday quelled rumours that it helped embattled Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa flee the island nation for the Maldives, hours before he was to step down amid violent protests over the country's worst economic crisis since independence. In a statement on Twitter, the Indian High Commission in Sri Lankan capital Colombo said that it "categorically denies baseless and speculative media reports that India facilitated the recent reported travel of Gotabaya Rajapaska and Basil Rajapaksa out of Sri Lanka". Read: State of emergency declared in Sri Lanka Reiterating its support for the island nation, the High Commission tweeted, "India will continue to support the people of Sri Lanka as they seek to realise their aspirations for prosperity and progress through democratic means and values , established democratic institutions and constitutional framework." Later, the Sri Lankan military said in a statement that the 73-year-old President, his wife and two bodyguards left the main international airport near Colombo aboard a Lankan Air Force jet early on Wednesday. The armed forces attributed the decision to the Sri Lankan Defense Ministry. Read: Sri Lankan president flees the country amid economic crisis The outgoing President's unceremonious departure in the face of the violent protests marks the end of the powerful Rajapaksa clan that has dominated Sri Lankan politics for the past 20 years and credited for the elimination of the rebel Tamil Tigers.

Sherry Fonseka joined millions in 2019 in electing President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, a military strategist whose brutal campaign helped end Sri Lanka’s 30-year civil war 10 years earlier. Now he is one of thousands who, for weeks, have protested outside the president’s office, calling on Rajapaksa and his brother, Mahinda, who is prime minister, to resign for leading the country into its worst economic crisis since its independence from Britain in 1948. With the island teetering near bankruptcy, Fonseka, who owns a small garment business in the capital, Colombo, has resorted to spending his own savings to pay the salaries of his 30 employees. But he knows he will soon have to let them go and is clear about who is to blame. “All of us thought we made the correct decision (to elect Rajapaksa), but we’ve realized we were wrong. We should have the backbone to tell people, and the world, that we made a mistake,” he said. In recent weeks, protests have erupted across the country demanding that Rajapaksa quit. The protests highlight the dramatic fall of the Rajapaksas from Sri Lanka’s most powerful political dynasty in decades to a family grasping to retain power. Despite accusations of atrocities during the civil war, Gotabaya and Mahinda, who was previously president, remained heroes to many of the island’s Buddhist-Sinhalese majority and were firmly entrenched at the top of Sri Lankan politics before the revolt by previous supporters like Fonseka. “The pendulum has swung from ‘it’s all about the Rajapaksas, they are the people who saved this country,’ to ‘it is because of the Rajapaksas that the country is now ruined,’” said Harsha de Silva, an economist and opposition lawmaker. Also read: Sri Lanka discusses loan from China to cover earlier debts The unravelling of Sri Lanka’s economy has been swift and painful. Imports of everything from milk to fuel have plunged, spawning dire food shortages and rolling power cuts. People have been forced to queue for hours every day to buy essentials. Doctors have warned of a crippling shortage of life-saving drugs in hospitals, and the government has suspended payments on $7 billion in foreign debts due this year alone. “The Rajapaksas, like an octopus, have held on to every aspect of public life in Sri Lanka,” de Silva said. “They have been running it as if it was their kingdom. They wished and they did –- that’s how it was and people were with them.” President Rajapaksa has defended his government, partly blaming the pandemic and Russia’s war in Ukraine. “This crisis was not created by me,” he said in a speech last month, adding that his government was working hard on solutions. They include approaching the International Monetary Fund and World Bank for assistance, after repeated calls to do so. But as protesters seethed, the president and prime minister have changed tact in recent weeks. They have admitted to mistakes they made that exacerbated the crisis, such as implementing a short-lived ban last year on importing chemical fertilizers that badly hurt farmers and conceding that they should have sought a bailout sooner. Influential Buddhist monks have urged Rajapaksa to form an interim government under a new prime minister, signaling a further decline in the family’s image as protectors of the country’s 70% Buddhist-Sinhalese majority. Some observers say it’s too soon to measure how much support for the Rajapaksas has fallen among their hardcore base, but for many their response has been too little and too late. “There is now recognition across the government of several missteps, but it’s one that’s come at a huge cost to the people,” said Bhavani Fonseka, a senior researcher at the Colombo-based Center for Policy Alternatives. The Rajapaksas were a powerful land-owning family which for decades dominated local elections in their rural southern district, before rising to the helm of national politics in 2005 when Mahinda was elected president. He remained in power until 2015, overseeing the end of the civil war against ethnic Tamil rebels in 2009, before losing to the opposition led by his former aide. Suicide bombings that killed 290 people on Easter Sunday in 2019 paved the way for the Rajapaksas’ return, this time as Gotabaya launched a high-pitched nationalist campaign that tapped outrage and disillusionment with the previous government over the attacks. He vowed a return to the muscular nationalism that had made his family popular with the Buddhist majority, and also to bring the country out of an economic slump with a message of stability and development. Tourism had dropped sharply after the bomb attacks and Sri Lanka needed badly to boost revenue to service a slew of foreign loans for splashy infrastructure projects. Some involved Chinese money and were commissioned under his brother’s presidency, but had failed to create profits, instead collecting debt. Just days into his presidency, Rajapaksa pushed through the largest tax cuts in Sri Lanka’s history to spur spending even as critics warned that it would shrink the government’s finances. According to Nishan de Mel, executive director of Verité Research, Sri Lanka’s tax base fell by 30%. Also read:Sri Lanka halts stock trading as share prices plummet “When you do something like that, you have some kind of internal analysis or document that shows why these cuts could help the economy. There was nothing of that sort,” de Mel said. The move triggered immediate punishment from the global market as creditors downgraded Sri Lanka’s ratings, making it impossible for it to borrow more money as its foreign exchange reserves continued to dwindle. Then the coronavirus hit, further crushing tourism as debts snowballed. Analysts say the Rajapaksas’ response to the economic challenges underscored the limitations of their strongman politics and their family’s near-monopoly on decision making, heavily relying on the military to enforce policy and passing laws to weaken independent institutions. Three other Rajapaksa family members were in the Cabinet until early April, when the Cabinet resigned en masse in response to the protests. “Their entire political ideology and credibility is in serious crisis,” said Jayadeva Uyangoda, a veteran political scientist. But many fear that things will only get worse before improving. A divided and weak opposition without a majority in Parliament has kept the Rajapaksas in power. An IMF bailout could see austere measures intensifying hardships for people before there is relief. Meanwhile, the focus remains on the protests, which are drawing people across ethnicities, religion and class. For the first time, middle-class Sri Lankans have taken to the streets in large numbers, Uyangoda said. They include Wijaya Nanda Chandradewa, who joined the crowd outside the president’s office on Saturday. A retired government employee, Chandradewa said he fell for Rajapaksa’s promise to rebuild a Sri Lanka scarred by the 2019 bombings. “He said there will be one country and one law -- now there is neither the law nor the country,” Chandradewa said, adding that the only option now is for Rajapaksa to quit. “He showed us a fairyland and cheated us and misled us,” he said. “We have to fix our mistakes and build a system to bring in the right leader.”

Sri Lanka’s president declared a state of emergency in the island nation Friday, a day after angry protesters demonstrated near his home demanding he resign and as plans were were made for a nationwide protest over the country’s worst economic crisis in memory. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa invoked sections of the Public Security Ordinance, which gives him authority to make regulations in the interests of public security, preservation of public order, suppression of mutiny, riot or civil commotion or for the maintenance of essential supplies. Under the emergency regulations the president can authorize detentions, taking possession of any property and the search any premises. He can also change or suspend any law. Also read: Pakistan's parliament adjourns debate on embattled premier The order came a day after dozens of people were arrested following protests near the president’s home. There are also calls for an island-wide public protest on Sunday. Rajapaksa’s office blamed “organized extremists” within the thousands of protesters for violence during Thursday night’s demonstration, where police fired tear gas and a water cannon and arrested 54 people. Dozens of other people were also injured. Nuwan Bopage, an attorney representing some of the suspects, said several of them were being taken for medical examinations for various injuries and were to appear in court Friday. A police curfew that had been implemented in the suburbs of the capital, Colombo, was lifted Friday morning. The protesters blame Rajapaksa for long power outages and shortages of essential goods. Also read: Protest in India's capital on 2nd day of nationwide strike Sri Lanka has huge debt obligations and dwindling foreign reserves, and its struggle to pay for imports has caused the shortages. People wait in long lines for fuel, and power is cut for several hours daily because there’s not enough fuel to operate generating plants and dry weather has sapped hydropower capacity. On Thursday, the crowds demonstrating along the roads leading to Rajapaksa’s private residence on the outskirts of Colombo stoned two army buses that police were using to block the protesters. They set fire to one of the buses and turned back a fire truck that rushed to douse it. Senior police spokesperson Ajith Rohana told media that 24 police personnel and several other civilians were injured in the unrest, and several vehicles belonging to the police and army were torched by protesters. Total damage was estimated to be around $132,000 and the suspects will be charged with damaging public property, Rohana said. Reporters asked Rohana about accusations that police officers manhandled journalists covering the protests, including the arrest of at least one of them. Rohana said police followed the rules for riot control and took action only after the protest turned violent more than four hours after it started. Sri Lanka’s economic woes are blamed on successive governments not diversifying exports and relying on traditional cash sources like tea, garments and tourism, and on a culture of consuming imported goods. The COVID-19 pandemic dealt a heavy blow to Sri Lanka’s economy, with the government estimating a loss of $14 billion in the last two years. Sri Lanka also has immense foreign debt after borrowing heavily on projects that don’t earn money. Its foreign debt repayment obligations are around $7 billion for this year alone.   According to the Central Bank, inflation rose to 17.5% in February from 16.8% a month earlier. Its expected to continue rising because the government has allowed the local currency to float freely.

Voting to elect a new Parliament was underway in Sri Lanka on Wednesday.