Sri Lankans protest outside the presidents office in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka news: A state of emergency will be declared by the President (of Sri Lanka, Gotabaya Rajapaksa) with effect from midnight today, reported Sri Lanka’s DailyMirror citing President’s Media Division on Friday.
Sri Lankan student activists had earlier in the day warned to lay a siege to Parliament as trade unions launched a crippling island-wide strike to demand the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his government over their inability to tackle the economic meltdown which has caused unprecedented hardships to the public.
Sri Lanka’s government has been facing a wave of protests around the country with an increasingly furious public demanding its resignation.
All trade unions of health, postal, port and other government services have joined the strike. However, several pro-ruling party trade unions have declined to join.
Businesses remained shut and roads appeared empty in most usually crowded areas.
The government said it was holding an urgent meeting of the Cabinet to assess the situation in the country.
Since April 9, the protesters have been staying near the presidential secretariat in the ‘Gota go home gama’ or Gotabaya Go home village and since April 26 the ‘Mynah go home village’ or ‘Mahinda Go Home Village’.
Sri Lanka is currently in the throes of unprecedented economic turmoil since its independence from Britain in 1948. The crisis is caused in part by a lack of foreign currency, which has meant that the country cannot afford to pay for imports of staple foods and fuel, leading to acute shortages and very high prices.
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