Sri Lanka won’t extend state of emergency beyond this week, president Ranil Wickremesinghe says

President believes situation in Sri Lanka has ‘stabilised’

Sri Lanka’s president Ranil Wickremesinghe said the state of emergency imposed to curb widespread protests across the country will not be extended beyond this week.

“The situation in the country has stabilised, there is no need to reimpose the state of emergency when it lapses this week,” Mr Wickremesinghe’s media office said on Tuesday.

Mr Wickremesinghe imposed the state of emergency on 18 July when he was acting president and when protests against the government’s mishandling of the country’s worst economic crisis were taking place in full force.

The move had drawn sharp criticism from activists and opposition in Sri Lanka.

“Imposition of Emergency is an undemocratic draconian act. Peace-loving citizens of our motherland have the sacred privilege to exercise their fundamental rights in a democratic society. Long live democracy,” opposition leader Sajith Premadasa had said in a tweet at the time.

The Bar Association of Sri Lanka had also urged Mr Wickremesinghe to revoke the proclamation.

“A declaration of a state of Emergency is not the answer to the present situation in the country, including the spate of public protests which have occurred which resulted in the eventual resignation of the former president,” the association said in a statement.

Given the spiralling economic catastrophe in Sri Lanka, former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa had fled the country on a military jet and resigned later last month.

In Mr Rajapaksa’s absence, he had appointed Sri Lanka’s then prime minister, Mr Wickremesinghe as acting president.

Mr Wickremesinghe soon declared a state of emergency in the country and ordered the military to restore order as thousands of protesters stormed his office, demanded his resignation and had even set fire to his residence.

He was later voted by lawmakers to be Sri Lanka’s new president.

The state of emergency has allowed the country’s troops and police to arrest and detain people for long periods of time even as around 22 million Sri Lankans have continued to suffer through unprecedented economic turmoil.

Basic goods and services have become increasingly costly and inflation has soared in the worst financial crisis faced by the country in more than 70 years.

Millions have struggled to buy food, medicine, fuel and other essentials.

Sri Lanka had defaulted on its debt for the first time in its history in May this year.

Sarah Saadoun, senior researcher and advocate at Human Rights Watch wrote in a dispatch for the organisation that “Sri Lankans desperately need IMF support, but recent protests make clear that many seek reforms that will increase accountability and tackle the root causes of the country’s problems. The IMF’s actions should support these demands”.