Emergency in Lanka ahead of Parliament vote for new President

Colombo: Sri Lanka's acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe has declared a state of emergency in the crisis-ridden island nation in an effort to head off unrest ahead of a vote in Parliament later this week to elect a new President. Wickremesinghe announced the measure "in the interests of public security, the protection of public order and the maintenance of supplies and services essential to the life of the community," according to a government notice released late on Sunday. The specific legal provisions of the latest emergency are yet to be announced by the government, but previous emergency regulations have been used to deploy the military to arrest and detain people, search private property and dampen public protests.

Sri Lanka's beleaguered leaders have imposed a state of emergency several times since April, when mass protests started against the government's handling of the economic crisis and a persistent shortage of essentials.

"Why is he declaring a state of emergency? In fear of people? Is there an emergency situation in the country? There is no emergency situation at all," Jayamapthy Wickremeratne, an expert on constitutional affairs, said on Monday.

Former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had offered his resignation after fleeing the country to Singapore. The president first flew to the Maldives after tens of thousands of protesters stormed his official residence in the capital Colombo. The Sri Lankan Parliament announced that the nominations for the Presidential elections will be held on Tuesday and the new President of Sri Lanka will be elected on July 20. It is interesting to note that the main opposition leader Sajith Premadasa is set to contest the presidential elections.

Terming the scenario of him winning Sri Lanka's presidential elections an "uphill task", Premadasa on Friday said that he will contest the elections as he is convinced that the truth will prevail. The economy in Sri Lanka is bracing for a sharp contraction due to the unavailability of basic inputs for production, an 80 per cent depreciation of the currency since March 2022, coupled with a lack of foreign reserves and the country's failure to meet its international debt obligations. Hundreds of Sri Lankans continue to queue up at petrol pumps across the debt-ridden country every day amid fuel shortage, and a large number of people are ditching their cars and motorcycles for bicycles for their daily commute.

The economic crisis which is the worst in Sri Lanka's history has prompted an acute shortage of essential items like fuel. Long queues at fuel stations in Sri Lanka is the new normal and prices fluctuate subject to availability.