Lagatar24 Desk
Colombo, July 17: The protest movement in Sri Lanka entered its 100th day on Sunday. Having removed one president from office, it is now focusing on his replacement as the nation’s economic crisis worsens.
Last weekend, before protesters broke into his palace, Gotabaya Rajapaksa left and announced his resignation as president on Thursday. Due to his poor administration, Sri Lanka’s 22 million citizens have been forced to deal with food, fuel, and medical shortages since late last year. People from across Sri Lanka’s frequently insurmountable ethnic boundaries participated in the Rajapaksa removal effort, which was primarily organised through posts on Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok.
Minority Muslims and Tamils banded together with the majority Sinhalese to seek the overthrown of the once-powerful Rajapaksa clan due to economic problems.
Tens of thousands of people camped out in front of Rajapaksa’s office on April 9 as part of a two-day protest; this was a significantly higher turnout than the organisers had anticipated, so they decided to continue.
Following Rajapaksa’s resignation, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was automatically appointed acting president in accordance with Sri Lanka’s constitution. Now, Wickremesinghe is the front-runner for Rajapaksa’s permanent replacement in a parliamentary vote next week.
The demonstrators dislike the seasoned politician because he is a supporter of the Rajapaksa clan, a group of four brothers who have long dominated island politics.
“It’s been 100 days since it started. But, its still far from any concrete change in the system. Go Home Ranil, Not My President, Welikumbura said on Twitter.
Despite Wickremesinghe being an opposition MP who represents a party with just one seat in parliament, Mahinda Rajapaksa, the elder brother of the president, nominated him to succeed him as premier after Mahinda quit in May. This is Wickremesinghe’s sixth term in the job.
The protestors were still angry, and when they broke into Rajapaksa’s heavily guarded 200-year-old Presidential Palace, they also set Wickremesinghe’s home on fire.
With more than 100 MPs in the 225-member parliament, the Rajapaksas’ SLPP party is now supporting Wickremesinghe in the vote scheduled for Wednesday.
