Sri Lanka Crisis Updates: Hours before Sri Lanka appointed Dinesh Gunawardena as the country’s Prime Minister, security forces on Friday demolished the main anti-government protest camp in the capital and evicted activists. The raid came a day after veteran politician Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in as the crisis-hit country’s new leader, replacing Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled and resigned after protesters overran his palace.
Troops and police Special Task Force commandos armed with batons and automatic assault rifles swooped in on protesters blocking the capital’s Presidential Secretariat hours before they were due to vacate the area.
Hundreds of soldiers removed barricades set up by protesters blocking the main gate of the sea-front building, which demonstrators had partly overrun earlier this month. An armoured personnel carrier was also seen in the area. Activists had announced they planned to hand over the building, a symbol of state authority, on Friday afternoon, after a cabinet was sworn in by Wickremesinghe.
Here are all the latest updates from Sri Lanka:
– Two men died in cash-strapped Sri Lanka on Friday while waiting in serpentine queues to purchase fuel as widespread shortages and soaring inflation levels continue to heap misery on citizens. The two deaths were reported on a day when newly-elected President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Friday appointed Dinesh Gunawardena as the Prime Minister in a bid to restore political stability and mitigate the worst economic crisis that has virtually bankrupted the island nation.
– Sri Lanka’s newly-elected President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Friday appointed Dinesh Gunawardena, a loyalist of the Rajapaksa family, as the Prime Minister in a bid to restore political stability and rebuild the country’s bankrupt economy. The formation of the new government by Wickremesinghe took place hours after Sri Lankan troops and police armed with assault rifles and batons forcibly removed anti-government protesters camped outside the presidential office here in a pre-dawn raid.
– CIA chief Bill Burns on Wednesday blamed “dumb bets” on high-debt Chinese investment as a factor in Sri Lanka’s economic collapse, saying it should serve as a warning to other nations. “The Chinese have a lot of weight to throw around and they can make a very appealing case for their investments,” Burns said at the Aspen Security Forum.
– Chinese President Xi Jinping congratulated Ranil Wickremesinghe on his election as Sri Lankan President and offered to provide support as his capacity allows to Colombo, amid Beijing’s concerns over billions of dollars of Chinese investments and defaulted loans in the economically bankrupt island nation. President Xi said he attaches great importance to the development of China-Sri Lanka relations and would like to provide support and assistance as his capacity allows to Wickremesinghe and the Sri Lankan people.
– The top UN official in Sri Lanka has called on all stakeholders in the country to engage in broad and inclusive consultations to resolve the current economic crisis and the grievances of the people, according to a senior official representing the UN chief. Deputy Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Farhan Haq, said at the daily news briefing here on Thursday that UN Resident Coordinator in Sri Lanka, Hanaa Singer-Hamdy, “acknowledged the constitutional transfer of power to a new President.
– The US on Friday denounced Sri Lankan security forces’ overnight crackdown on anti-government protestors as its envoy met newly-elected President Ranil Wickremesinghe and expressed grave concern over the unnecessary and deeply troubling” escalation of violence.
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