Sri Lanka crisis escalated further on Wednesday, declaring a nationwide state of emergency hours after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country, the Prime Minister’s office said.
“Since the president is out of the country, an emergency has been declared to deal with the situation in the country,” Prime Minister’s spokesman Dinouk Colombage said.
The island nation is mired in a deep political and economic crisis as the country’s president flew out of the country days after a huge crowd of protesters stormed his residence.
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READ ALSO: Sri Lanka Crisis: President Rajapaksa Flees As Military Personnel Join Protesters.
The country with a 22 million population has suffered months of lengthy blackouts, acute food and fuel shortages, and galloping inflation in its most painful downturn on record.
The Sri Lankan citizens have continued to demand the resignation of President Rajapaksa, whose government has been blamed for the chronic mismanagement of the country’s finances.
Sri Lanka opposition leader Sajith Premadasa – nominated this week as a candidate to replace president Gotabaya Rajapaksa – has criticised prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe for declaring an emergency. He said only the president could make this call and the PM could only do so as ‘acting president’ – a post he does not hold at this time since Rajapaksa has not formally resigned.
“PM becomes acting president only if the president appoints him as such, or if the office of president is vacant, or if the CJ (chief justice) in consultation with the Speaker forms the view that the president is unable to act,” he said.
“In the absence of any of these, the prime minister cannot exercise the powers of president, and cannot declare curfew or a state of emergency.”