Just to update my last rather lengthy Sri Lanka post.
Starting with recent events
President Rajapaksa and his wife fled to the Maldives on Wednesday aboard an air force jet. The absconding president made the PM acting president in his absence — a move that has further escalated the political crisis, angered the public, which has triggered a fresh wave of protests. The decision to leave him in charge sparked further protests demanding that the PM must also go. Many blame Wickremesinghe as part of the problem.
Sri Lanka’s Air Force on Wednesday confirmed Rajapaksa’s departure, saying in a statement: “Pursuant to the request of the government and in accordance with the powers vested in a President in the Constitution of Sri Lanka, the Sri Lanka air force provided a plane early today to fly the President, his wife and two security officials to the Maldives.”
On Wednesday the Parliament Speaker said that the President in a telephone conversation had informed that he would tender his letter of resignation during the day, before midnight.
Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena said that he informed the President to submit his letter of resignation as soon as possible, citing that he too is under pressure.
He said that since an Acting President has been appointed, the Office of the Speaker is exploring the legal provisions to consider the option of ‘have vacated his post’ if the President does not tender in his letter of resignation.
The PM’s Media Division on Wednesday said that the Acting President has informed Speaker Abeywardena to nominate a Prime Minister who is acceptable to both the Government and Opposition.
On Wednesday, protesters, undeterred by multiple rounds of tear gas, scaled the walls to enter the office of PM Wickremesinghe as the crowd outside cheered in support and tossed water bottles to them.
Wednesday’s protests were more directed at Wickremesinghe. Calls for his resignation intensified after he was appointed the acting president.
Political party leaders are asking him to step down so that Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena can take control as acting president.
Protesters took turns posing at the PM’s desk or stood on a rooftop terrace waving the Sri Lankan flag after the latest in a series of takeovers of government buildings by the demonstrators — who see the political maneuvers as delaying their goal of a new government for a nation of 22 millions.
Late on Wednesday night, crowds also gathered outside the Parliament.
PM Wickremesinghe has told the military to do “whatever is necessary to restore order” after protesters stormed his office on Wednesday.
On Thursday, the Sri Lanka government announced a curfew in the capital Colombo and its suburbs that would run until 5am on Friday. To stop demonstrators from accessing the Parliament on Thursday, the Sri Lankan Army stationed tanks close to the building. Troops in green military uniforms and camouflage vests arrived by armored personnel carriers on Thursday to reinforce barricades around the parliament.
Organizers of the protest fear a crackdown could be imminent after Prime Minister Wickremesinghe branded some protesters “fascists” in an address the previous evening.
The government has imposed a curfew in Colombo from noon on Thursday to early morning on Friday in a bid to prevent further unrest. Local media showed armored vehicles with soldiers atop patrolling the city’s streets.
The military said troops were empowered to use force to protect people and public property.
Protesters were withdrawing from the presidential palace after taking hold of it over the weekend.
Sri Lankans are in political uncertainty, anger and confusion on Thursday as they find president of the country is yet to resign although he fled the country .
Wickremesinghe has said he will not leave until a new government is in place. He has urged the speaker of parliament to find a new PM acceptable to both the ruling and opposition parties.
A Spokesperson from the Sri Lanka Parliament said that given that the President had not yet tendered his letter of resignation, it is uncertain if Parliament would be convened tomorrow, July 15.
It is unclear when that might happen since the opposition is deeply fractured. But assuming that Rajapaksa resigns as planned, Sri Lankan lawmakers have agreed to elect a new president on July 20 who will serve the remainder of Rajapaksa’s term, which ends in 2024. That person could potentially appoint a new prime minister, who would then have to be approved by Parliament.
As per Sri Lanka’s constitution, Rajapaksa’s resignation would only be considered official once the speaker of the parliament receives a letter stating it.
At least 84 people were hospitalized when protesters clashed with the security forces at the PM’s office and at the main access junction to Parliament since mid-afternoon on Wednesday after Rajapaksa fled the country.
The police fired tear gas and water cannons at the mob who were trying to break barriers and enter the restricted zone.
A nurse at the hospital told CNN that many people were brought in due to tear gas inhalation, while others had cuts and bruises likely received when trying to jump over fences. The nurse did not confirm any gunshot injuries.
With the country in disarray, Chief of Defense Staff Gen. Shavendra Silva called for calm and for cooperation with security forces.
Friday-COLOMBO (Reuters) - The speaker of Sri Lanka's parliament formally accepted President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's resignation on Friday after he fled to Singapore to escape a popular uprising brought about by his country's worst economic crisis in seven decades.
"From this point, we will move to constitutionally appoint a new president," the speaker, Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, told reporters. "It will happen quickly and successfully. I request everyone to support this process."
FRIDAY-COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's parliamentary speaker accepted President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's resignation on Friday after he fled to Singapore to escape a popular uprising brought about by his country's worst economic crisis in seven decades.
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2022-07-15/sri-lankas-parliament-speaker-accepts-rajapaksas-resignation
Elected in 2019, Rajapakse’s three brothers and nephew joined him in the government formed after the 2020 parliamentary elections. Following the 2019 Easter Sunday Bombing, his promise to strengthen national security was a key strategy to gain political power. A former military officer, Rajapakse was also considered a “war hero”and commanded the respect and authority of his supporters.
Rajapakse was a product of an authoritarian Sinhala-Buddhist military institutional setting. He joined the army in 1971, at the time of a youth insurrection. It was in response to this Sinhala youth insurrection and Tamil youth agitations in the North in the mid-1970s that the anti-democratic Prevention of Terrorism Act was introduced in 1979.
Nearly 35 years later — from 2005 to 2015, under the presidency of his elder brother, Mahinda — Rajapakse headed the Ministry of Defence and Urban Development. In 2009, he was involved in the military offensive that ended the anti-Tamil war in a blood bath, massacring 40,000–70,000 innocent Tamil civilians.
Rajapakse is directly accused of a range of crimes, including the assassination and disappearance of two journalists, Lasantha Wickrematunge and Pradeep Ekanaligoda. The images of the journalists, who were killed under Mahinda’s regime, are displayed in large posters at the GGG.
Wickrematunge’s assassination is directly related to his reporting on a defence contract for fighter jets that involved the misappropriation of public funds for personal gain by Rajapakse.
https://www.asia-pacificresearch.com/sri-lanka-victory-non-violent-people-movement/5631255
For those who dont believe the US is involved in coups around the workd I dont have time for a history lesson. You may consider these quotes in bold before researching further.
Speaking to Tapper right after the January 6 House Select Committee completed its seventh hearing about the breach of the US Capitol, Bolton claimed that the former commander-in-chief [Donald Trump] could not have pulled off a carefully planned coup d’etat. “One doesn’t have to be brilliant to attempt a coup,” Tapper argued. “I disagree with that,” Bolton retorted and then continued:
“As someone who has helped plan coup d’etats – not here but, you know, other places – it takes a lot of work. And that’s not what [Trump] did. It was just stumbling around from one idea to another.”
https://www.globalresearch.ca/world-shocked-bolton-admission-us-conducts-coups/5786677
“We will coup whoever we want! Deal with it.” was Elon Musk’s response to an accusation on twitter that the U.S. government organized a coup against President Evo Morales, so that Musk could obtain Bolivia’s lithium.
This video by Brian Berletic describes a NED link with the protests
Start with this article
Within weeks, hundreds of thousands of people descended on Colombo. After initially clashing with police, protesters occupied key government buildings and residences, forcing President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his prime minister to promise to step down.
"I'm still trying to process it," said Chameera Dedduwage, a digital strategist at a major advertising firm who became part of the team that helped organise the uprising.
His linked in page shows Chameera Dedduwage as a campaign volunteer with this group. This is a bit blurry but the link is below
https://www.paffrel.com/inter_partnership-3---IP.html
ANFREL is funded by NED
https://www.ned.org/region/asia/asia-regional-2021/
Lets look at some of those on NED Board of Directors
https://www.ned.org/experts/elliott-abrams/
😳
https://www.ned.org/experts/victoria-nuland/
