Sri Lankan President-elect Ranil Wickremesinghe on Wednesday threatened to crack down on those who try to unseat him, saying he will act “firmly” if someone tries to act against the government.
“If they try to overthrow the government, occupy the offices of the president and the prime minister, this is not democracy and we are going to respond firmly“, he declared hours after being elected head of state by the Sri Lankan parliament.
The leader of the parliament, Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, announced on Wednesday that Wickremesinghe obtained 134 votes of the 225 parliamentarians who were to elect the new head of state, after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, currently in Singapore, fled after large demonstrations against the economic crisis. .
Protesters today celebrate 100 days since the start of the protests in Sri Lanka
Despite declaring that “the divisions are over” in Sri Lanka, Wickremesinghe has no consensus in the country, as the protesters who helped topple Rajapaksa see him as more of the same.
The political opposition and protesters accused the Rajapaksa family, which dominated the island’s political life for decades, of embezzling public funds and blamed the measures imposed by the former head of state for the country’s economic collapse.
Wickremesinghe declared a state of emergency on Monday, giving him broad authority to quell further protests, which have dragged on for more than 100 days..
The current political crisis in Sri Lanka is due to the worst economic crisis the country has experienced since independence from the British Empire in 1948.
The political stalemate threatened the country’s economic and financial situation, which could further delay an intervention by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The protesters who continue to occupy part of the presidential office have been ordered to leave the occupied compound on Wednesday night, otherwise they will be expelled and, according to a senior police official quoted by Agence France Presse, will be severely punished if they cause damage to public property.
The country has already enteredflawtechnical and has an external debt of more than 50,000 million euros, which analysts have already considered “unpayable”.
The shortage of basic necessities has worsened the situation of the country’s population of 22 million inhabitants.
Sri Lankan politics has always been dominated by a few great dynasties, such as the Rajapaksa, and the new president’s family is no exception: nephew of former president Junius Jayewardene (1978-1989), it was his powerful uncle who appointed Wickremesinghe in 1977 The position of Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Source: Observadora
