Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube

Sri Lanka: Protesters Storm Presidential Palace, Forcing the President and Prime Minister to Resign

Amid fuel shortages, rising inflation, militarization, and further austerity measures, new protests broke out Saturday in Sri Lanka’s capital, Colombo. The working class should not pay a single cent for the mounting social and economic crises.

Facebook Twitter Share
Demonstrators celebrate after entering into the Presidential Secretariat, after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled in Colombo, Sri Lanka July 2022
Image: Dinuka Liyanawatte / Reuters

Amid fuel shortages, rising inflation, militarization of cities, and proposals of further austerity measures to guarantee a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), new protests broke out Saturday in Sri Lanka’s capital, Colombo.

Tens of thousands of protesters stormed President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s office and residence. The protesters broke the security perimeter surrounding Rajapaksa’s official residence while the police used tear gas to prevent entry. Rajapaksa was said to have left earlier on a naval ship. 

In response to this escalation, Rajapaksa offered his resignation, as did the Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

The growing protests in the country are taking place against the backdrop of one of the worst economic crises in Sri Lanka since its independence in 1948, resulting from the depletion of foreign currency in international reserves and heavy indebtedness. An import-dependent country that relies heavily on tourism for its economy, Sri Lanka’s foreign reserves are now depleted and the country has declared bankruptcy, leaving it unable to purchase essential commodities from the global market. Since earlier this year, the country has severely restricted imports on what it deems “non-essential,” including milk products like butter, cheese, yogurt, fish, and fruits. Meanwhile, the country also has a massive foreign debt burden to repay.

Tension and discontent increased on the island at the end of March, when the authorities imposed power cuts of over 13 hours in the face of a fuel crisis, which led the population to take to the streets to demand the resignation of the Sri Lankan Executive.

Since then, hundreds of demonstrators have settled in the vicinity of the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo. Protests around the island nation have become commonplace and increasingly repressed, as the police and state forces have attempted to impose a crippling curfew with all its might. 

Meanwhile, the government has been trying to reach a bailout agreement with the IMF behind the backs of the working class. This agreement would include drastic and far-reaching structural reforms, like austerity in state expenditures, the elimination of the duopoly in the energy sector, the end of import restrictions, the increase of indirect taxes and the privatization or sale of state enterprises. In anticipation of the bailout, the Rajapaksa government further devalued the currency, leading to higher inflation.

The mobilizations are part of a deepening social and economic crisis across the globe. Supply chain disruptions and the war in Ukraine have increased inflation and food shortages, which have, in turn, provoked strikes in Europe and the United States, as well as rebellions in countries like Ecuador and Iran. Ukraine and Russia are important geopolitical allies for Sri Lanka, especially for tea exports and fuel imports.

Amid the crisis, Sri Lanka’s opposition parties have joined the calls and led the charge for the current government to resign. In reality, they pose no real solution for the working people of the country. The debate among the political caste over the question of the foreign debt is limited to whether to refinance or completely restructure the whole debt. Both these solutions only represent more misery for Sri Lankans, especially because they both mean more austerity measures that will further squeeze the working class. 

It is increasingly important for Sri Lanka’s foreign debt — and the debt of all countries affected by the IMF’s imperialist exploitation and extortion — to be canceled. To carve a real solution out of this crisis, it is urgent to break the agreement between the imperialist and national bourgeoisies. The working class should not pay a single cent for this crisis. 

Facebook Twitter Share

Luigi Morris

Luigi is a UPS Warehouse Worker - Teamster Local 804. He is also a member of Left Voice, freelance photographer and socialist journalist.

Twitter Instagram

Sou Mi

Sou Mi is an activist based in New York City.

Asia-Pacific

China’s Rise, ‘Diminished Dependency,’ and Imperialism in Times of World Disorder

In this broad-ranging interview, originally published in LINKS, Trotskyist Fraction member Esteban Mercatante discusses how recent global shifts in processes of capital accumulation have contributed to China’s rise, the new (and old) mechanisms big powers use to plunder the Global South, and its implications for anti-imperialist and working-class struggles today.

Esteban Mercatante

September 22, 2023

Strike for Wages at Chevron-Australia Could Hit 5 Percent of Global Gas Production

Chevron workers in Western Australia are escalating a strike at two of the world's largest gas facilities. They are demanding wage rises and better working conditions.

Arthur Nicola

September 14, 2023

The Roots of the Rebellion at Foxconn

Jenny Chan is a researcher and professor at the Polytechnic University of Hong Kong. She is co-author of the book Dying for an iPhone. She spoke with La Izquerda Diario about the causes of the rebellion by workers at the Foxconn plant in Zhengzhou, China.

Josefina L. Martínez

December 7, 2022
Participants in a memorial ceremony lay flowers to pay respect to a deceased 23-year-old worker in front of the SPC headquarters in Seoul, Thursday. She died in an accident at a baking factory in Pyeongtaek affiliated with SPC on Saturday.

How Workers and Socialists are Responding to a Workplace Death at One of South Korea’s Largest Food Manufacturers

Following a workplace death at SPC group, one of the largest food manufacturers in South Korea, a consumer boycott quickly gained traction. Organized workers and revolutionary socialists are playing a role in this struggle.

Samuel Karlin

November 12, 2022

MOST RECENT

The New Hollywood McCarthyism Emerging Around Palestine

Over the past week, a new Hollywood McCarthyism has emerged: multiple people in Hollywood have jobs and representation over their support of Palestine. We must denounce and fight these attacks which weaken the movement and scare supporters into silence.

Sybil Davis

December 3, 2023
A UAW sign is held next to a "Free Palestine" sign

The UAW Has Called for a Ceasefire. It’s Time for All of Labor to Stand Up.

The UAW International union has joined calls for a ceasefire and is exploring how to divest from Israel. This is a step which should inspire union activists to take up the fight to bring their union into the fight against Israel's attack on Gaza and the struggle against imperialism.

Rose Lemlich

December 2, 2023

Robert Habeck Wrote a Play Praising a Right-Wing Mass Murderer

Germany's Green vice chancellor strikes many as an idealist who has been struggling with the tough realities of government. Yet before he was a national politician, he wrote a play that opens a window into a dark soul.

Nathaniel Flakin

December 1, 2023

The World Kissinger Built Must Die Too

Henry Kissinger died at 100 years old. But his legacy remains in the brutal world system he built and the future generations of imperialist ghouls he inspired. They all must go.

Samuel Karlin

November 30, 2023