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Gallery|Protests

Photos: Sri Lanka students march to demand president, PM resign

Thousands of students protest in Colombo, asking President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and PM Ranil Wickremesinghe to quit over the economic crisis.

Sri Lankan student Buddhist monks shout slogans
Sri Lanka's student Buddhist monks shout slogans as they march demanding President Gotabaya Rajapaksa resign over the economic crisis. [Eranga Jayawardena/AP Photo]
Published On 21 Jun 202221 Jun 2022
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Thousands of students from state universities have marched in Sri Lanka’s main city of Colombo to demand the president and prime minister resign over an economic crisis that has caused severe shortages of essential supplies and disrupted people’s livelihoods and education.

The students say President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is responsible for the economic crisis, the worst since independence in 1948, and that Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who took over the position a little more than a month ago promising to end shortages, has not delivered on his pledges.

Sri Lanka is nearly bankrupt and has suspended repayment of $7bn in foreign debt due this year. It must also pay back more than $5bn every year until 2026. Its foreign reserves are nearly gone and it is unable to import food, fuel, cooking gas and medicines. A lack of fuel to run power stations has resulted in long daily power cuts.

In recent months, people have been forced to stand in long lines to buy fuel and gas, and the country has survived mostly on credit lines extended by neighbouring India to buy fuel and other essentials.

With that credit also running out, authorities have shut schools and instructed teachers to teach online, and have asked non-essential government employees to work from home for one week to preserve limited stocks of fuel.

Officials from the International Monetary Fund are currently in Sri Lanka to discuss a bailout package.

The months-long protests have nearly dismantled the Rajapaksa political dynasty that has ruled Sri Lanka for most of the past two decades.

One of Rajapaksa’s brothers resigned as prime minister last month, and two other brothers and a nephew quit their cabinet posts earlier.

President Rajapaksa has admitted he did not take steps to forestall the economic collapse early enough, but has refused to leave office. It is nearly impossible to remove a president under the country’s constitution unless he resigns of his own accord.

Sri Lankan student Buddhist monks shout slogans as they march demanding President Gotabaya Rajapaksa resign
The students say President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is responsible for the economic crisis, the worst since the country's independence in 1948. [Eranga Jayawardena/AP Photo]
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Sri Lankan students shout slogans
Sri Lankan students shout slogans as they march in Colombo. [Eranga Jayawardena/AP Photo]
University students attend a protest
Protests over the economic crisis have been rocking the Indian Ocean island nation for more than two months. [Chamila Karunarathne/EPA]
University students attend a protest calling for the resignation of the president
Economic mismanagement and the COVID-19 pandemic have left Sri Lanka battling its worst financial problems in 70 years, and a shortage of foreign exchange reserves has stalled imports of essentials including fuel, food and medicines. [Chamila Karunarathne/EPA]
University students attend a protest calling for the resignation of the president
An International Monetary Fund team has begun bailout talks in Sri Lanka as the country's cabinet cleared a constitutional amendment to dilute presidential powers that could assuage protesters amid rising tensions. [Chamila Karunarathne/EPA]
Sri Lankan student Buddhist monks shout slogans as they march demanding President Gotabaya Rajapaksa resign
Student Buddhist monks shout slogans as they march in Colombo. Police arrested 21 students who blocked all gates to the Presidential Secretariat building while declaring Monday, Rajapaksa's 73rd birthday, a 'day of mourning' for the nation. [Eranga Jayawardena/AP Photo]
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Sri Lankan university students march demanding President Gotabaya Rajapaksa resign
Sri Lanka closed schools and halted non-essential government services on Monday, starting a two-week shutdown to conserve fast-depleting fuel reserves. [Eranga Jayawardena/AP Photo]


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