Sri Lanka declares state of emergency after president flees

Written by DCY on

More in Asia:

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AFP) — Crisis-hit Sri Lanka declared an indefinite nationwide state of emergency on Wednesday, hours after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country, the prime minister’s office said.

“Since the president is out of the country, an emergency has been declared to deal with the situation in the country,” Dinouk Colombage, spokesman for Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, told AFP.

A man waves Sri Lanka’s national flag outside presidential secretariat in Colombo on July 13, 2022. – Sri Lanka is mired in a deep political and economic crisis, and on July 13, the country’s president flew out of the country days after a huge crowd of protesters stormed his residence. (Photo by Arun SANKAR / AFP)

Police said they were also imposing an indefinite curfew across the Western Province, which includes the capital Colombo, to contain growing protests after Rajapaksa flew to the Maldives in a military aircraft.

Thousands of demonstrators had mobbed the premier’s office, prompting police to fire tear gas to hold them back from overrunning the compound.

“There are ongoing protests outside the prime minister’s office in Colombo and we need the curfew to contain the situation,” a senior police officer told AFP.

Demonstrators take part in an anti-government protest outside the office of Sri Lanka’s prime minister in Colombo on July 13, 2022. – Sri Lankan police fire tear gas to hold back thousands of demonstrators mobbing the premier’s office in Colombo on July 13, AFP reporters at the scene saw. (Photo by AFP)

He said they were under orders to crack down against demonstrators disrupting the functioning of the state.

Tens of thousands of men and women overran Rajapaksa’s official residence on Saturday, forcing him to escape to a military base and later flee the country.

Officials said he had promised to resign on Wednesday.

 

© Agence France-Presse