Thousands of Sri Lankans rallied in the country’s main business district and Christian clergy marched in the capital to observe a day of protest on Saturday calling on the debt-ridden country’s president to resign, as anxiety and anger over shortages boiled over.
Protesters carrying national flags and placards, some bemoaning the hardships through songs, blamed President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his administration for mismanaging the crisis. He has remained steadfast in refusing to step down even after most of his Cabinet quit and loyal lawmakers rebelled, narrowing a path for him to seek a way out as his team prepares to negotiate with international lending institutions.
"Go home Rajapaksas" and "We need responsible leadership," read the placards.
The protest also included a large number of youngsters who had organized themselves through social media and refuse to accept any political leadership. Many carried signs, saying "You messed with the wrong generation!"
The protesters stayed around the president's office and vowed not to leave until their mission was accomplished.
Much of the anger expressed by weeks of growing protests has been directed at Rajapaksa and his elder brother, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, who head an influential clan that has been in power for most of the past two decades. Five other family members are lawmakers, three of whom resigned as ministers last Sunday.
Rajapaksa earlier proposed the creation of a unity government following the Cabinet resignations, but the main opposition party rejected the idea. Parliament has failed to reach a consensus on how to deal with the crisis after nearly 40 governing coalition lawmakers said they would no longer vote according to coalition instructions, significantly weakening the government.
With opposition parties divided, they too have not been able to show majority and take control of Parliament.
While members of the Rajapaksa family have been charged with corruption locally, authorities have failed to prove these charges in court. In 2021, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) released the Pandora Papers, which named Nirupama Rajapaksa who had used offshore shell companies and trusts to secretly stash the family's wealth around the world.
In 2022, as protests began growing in Sri Lanka, Jaliya Chitran Wickramasuriya, cousin of the Rajapaksa brothers, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for defrauding $332,027 from the Sri Lankan government during the purchase of a new embassy building in 2013.
Government supporters and allies also began to blame the economic crisis on Basil Rajapaksa who gained a reputation as "Mr. Ten Percent" due to his alleged commission from government contracts and, despite being the finance minister, did not attend parliament sessions during the economic crisis.
(with inputs from AP)
