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Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Friday declared a state of emergency giving security forces sweeping powers for the second time in five weeks to deal with escalating anti-government protests. A spokesman for the President said he invoked the tough laws to “ensure public order” after trade unions staged a nationwide strike Friday demanding his resignation over a worsening economic crisis, according to AFP.
The state of emergency gives the police and the security forces power to arbitrarily arrest and detain people. Rajapaksa’s decision was to ensure public security and maintain essential services so as to make sure a smooth functioning of the country, PTI quoted the presidential media division as saying.
Student activists on Friday warned to lay a siege to Parliament as trade unions launched a crippling nationwide strike to demand the resignation of Rajapaksa and his government over their inability to tackle the economic meltdown.
Thousands of student activists from the Inter University Students Federation (IUSF) blocked the main access road to the parliamentary complex since Thursday and carried on protests for almost 24 hours. The police fired tear gas shells and used a water cannon on the protesters to disperse them. The activists, calling for Rajapaksa’s resignation and the government for their mishandling of the country’s economy, vowed to return on May 17 when the assembly session reconvenes, PTI reported.
“We will be back on the 17th and we will block all exit points to Parliament then. The Rajapaksas must resign before that,” IUSF convenor Wasantha Liyanage said as they dispersed themselves from the protest site. They clashed with a few Opposition legislators as they were not allowed to leave.
The Opposition MPs confronted Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeyawardene in his chamber, forcing him to take up the no-trust motion against the government. The day was marked by a crippling one-day strike by trade unions numbering over 2,000 covering all sectors.
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. Mahinda Jayasinghe of the teachers’ trade union said school principals and teachers did not attend schools.
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