Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has revoked the state of public emergency that he had imposed on Friday last week in the wake of growing public anger and protests fuelled by the country’s debilitating economic crisis. Significantly, the move came on the day the Rajapaksa-led government lost the majority in the house after several of its lawmakers decided to sit independently in Parliament.

Late on Tuesday night, the President issued a gazette notification announcing that he has withdrawn the Emergency Rule Ordinance which gave security forces sweeping powers to curb any disturbance in the country. The move came as the government faced widespread condemnation both from civil society and political parties.

Since the imposition of a public emergency, demonstrations against the country’s ruling Rajapaksa clan had been growing as people defied prohibitory orders and curfew demanding the resignation of President Rajapaksa.

Faced with a crippling shortage of foreign reserve exchange, the country has been facing a shortage of fuel, food, and medicine, with some hospitals reportedly facing closure. Power plants have been struggling for fuel, resulting in countrywide power cuts, sometimes lasting up to 13 hours in a day. 

According to rules, the emergency proclamation needs to be ratified in parliament within two weeks of it coming into effect. However, on Tuesday, the government lost its majority after a group of at least 40 of its lawmakers decided to sit independently. Other allies in the ruling coalition have also separately conveyed that they would not back the emergency ratification.

Meanwhile, what started as an economic crisis is slowly turning into a political one with protestors refusing to accept anything less than the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. The cabinet members' en masse resignation didn't help either as opposition parties refused to join the government. And the possibility of fresh elections looks remote, given the economic state of the country.

(SAM)