COLOMBO: Thousands of protesters in Sri Lanka’s commercial capital Colombo broke through police barricades and stormed the president’s public residence on Saturday (Jul 9) in one of the largest anti-government marches in the crisis-hit nation this year.
Several protesters, holding Sri Lankan flags plus helmets, broke to the president’s residence, video clip from local TV news NewsFirst approach showed.
The isle of 22 mil people is having difficulties under a severe foreign exchange shortage that has limited essential imports associated with fuel, food and medication, plunging it to the worst financial turmoil in seven decades.
Many blame the country’s decline upon President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Largely peaceful protests since March possess demanded his resignation.
Thousands of people swarmed into Colombo’s federal government district, shouting slogans against the president plus dismantling several police barricades to reach Rajapaksa’s house, a Reuters witness said.
Law enforcement fired shots up but were unable to stop the angry audience from surrounding the particular presidential residence, the witness said.
Reuters could not immediately confirm the president’s location.
Despite a severe shortage of gasoline that has stalled transport services, demonstrators packed into buses, trains and trucks from several parts of the country to reach Colombo to demonstration the government’s failure to protect them through economic ruin.
Displeasure has worsened in recent weeks because the cash-strapped country ceased receiving fuel deliveries, forcing school closures and rationing of petrol and diesel powered for essential providers.
Sampath Perera, the 37-year-old fisherman took an overcrowded tour bus from the seaside town of Negombo 45km north of Colombo, to join the demonstration.
“We have informed Gota over and over again to look home but he or she is still clinging onto power. We will not stop until this individual listens to us, ” Perera said.
He is among the thousands squeezed by persistent fuel shortages plus inflation that strike 54. 6 per cent in June.
Politics instability could challenge Sri Lanka’s speaks with the International Financial Fund seeking an US$3 billion bailout, a restructuring associated with some foreign financial debt and fund-raising through multilateral and zwei staaten betreffend sources to ease the buck drought.