Fury exploded onto the streets of Sri Lanka’s capital on July 13 following the failure of the country’s leadership to honour an agreement for the president and prime minister to relinquish their positions.
The official resignations of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe occurred, but then were backtracked on.
Rajapaksa, his wife, and two bodyguards chose to flee the island nation’s capital city of Colombo for the Maldives early on July 13, leaving Wickremesinghe in charge as the interim president amid an escalating economic and civilian crisis.
Protesters responded en masse to this decision by storming the office of Wickremesinghe, demanding that he also vacate his post.
After taking charge, Wickremesinghe promptly declared a state of emergency, which he rescinded hours later.
This was followed by demands for a return to order within the besieged capital.
Wickremesinghe then declared a nationwide curfew until the morning of July 14 in a desperate bid to stem the tidal wave of unrest within the capital.
He said the demonstrators had no right to destroy his office and were trying to disrupt a proper transition of government.
“They want to stop the parliamentary process. But we must respect the constitution. So security forces have advised me to impose an emergency and a curfew. I’m working to do that,” he said during a press statement.
Police and protesters clashed in the streets outside the prime minister’s office on July 13 as law enforcement fired tear gas into crowds of demonstrators.
At least one 26-year-old protester reportedly died in a hospital after developing breathing difficulties from excessive gas exposure.
Earlier the same day, the state-owned television station Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation (SLRC) suspended telecasts as angry dissenters surrounded the station.
An official from the corporation reported a group of demonstrators managed to enter the premises and demanded the station only run news related to the anti-government demonstrations.
Parliament is expected to elect a new president next week.
Some experts say any attempt by Wickremesinghe to hang on to power—whether elected or not—would be met with violent opposition.
Outrage among civilians has built since March over the country’s dire economic crisis that has left thousands of Sri Lankans without food, fuel, or medicine.
The fact that Wickremesinghe, the ousted president’s close confident, could potentially be elected to the nation’s highest office next week has left a bitter taste in the mouths of the opposition.
