#Sri Lanka PM Resigns

[krazyshoppy]

आर्थिक संकट के बीच श्रीलंका को मिलेगा नया राष्ट्रपति, 20 जुलाई को होगा चुनाव

आर्थिक संकट के बीच श्रीलंका को मिलेगा नया राष्ट्रपति, 20 जुलाई को होगा चुनाव

Sri New President: श्रीलंका में आर्थिक संकट को लेकर सरकार के खिलाफ मचे बवाल के बाद राष्ट्रपति गोटाबाया राजपक्षे (Gotabaya Rajapaksa) ने 13 जुलाई को इस्तीफा देने की घोषणा की थी. अब श्रीलंका की संसद (Sri Lankan Parliament) 20 जुलाई को नए राष्ट्रपति का चुनाव करेगी, जो गोटाबाया राजपक्षे का स्थान लेंगे. संसद के अध्यक्ष महिंदा यापा अभयवर्धने ने सोमवार को इसकी घोषणा की. ये फैसला आज सभी दलों के नेताओं की…

[breaking-news-portal]

When the protesters entered the President's house, they got a huge amount! People were seen counting notes in the viral video

When the protesters entered the President’s house, they got a huge amount! People were seen counting notes in the viral video

Sri Lanka Political Crisis: Anti-government protesters who stormed the official residence of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in Sri Lanka claimed to have recovered Rs 1.78 crore from inside the President’s house. In a video that has surfaced on social media, protesters are seen counting the recovered currency notes. The protesters said they received 1,78,50,000 Sri Lankan rupees at the President’s…

[bi-the-way-drbloom]

The prime minister of Sri Lanka just announced his resignation

It's a bad time to be the PM of an island nation

[bloodpen-to-paper]

So to recap (July 2022 edition) we got:

- 4th of July shooting in Highland Park + a shooting in Chicago

- anyone with a uterus has less rights than an assault rifle in the U.S.; right-wing Scotus can get hit by a plane

- Edit: Native Americans have been added to the list of people with less right than an assault rifle in the U.S.

- a third of the British Parliament resigning from various government positions cause of how much everyone hates Boris Johnson

- Edit: Boris Johnson has now resigned cause of how much everyone hates Boris Johnson

- Shinzo Abe, former Prime Minister of Japan, got shot while giving a speech

- Edit: *Former Former Prime Minister... he got Lincoln’d

- a far-right French politician accidentally pinned the assassination of Shinzo Abe on popular video game designer Hideo Kojima, which a major Greek news outlet relayed, only furthering the idea that Kojima did it

- the war in Ukraine is still going on

- the state of Canada can be summarized by this image:   https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/862558639735046146/995130724791365652/unkown.png

- Hunter Biden got trending on twitter for the hundredth time and nobody gives a shit seriously who gives a shit conservatives get him trending for literally breathing why is this still happening-

- Edit: ... Users of the well known “incel” website 4chan supposedly hacked the iPhone of U.S. President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden and allegedly exposed the both of them as pedophiles, among many other things. Sweet shitting Christ almighty, if this is true, I have been proven incorrect in possibly the most cursed way imaginable, and it is a testament to my willpower and spite that I have not fallen in alcoholism from this news piece alone 

- Baymax is a Leftist

- the U.S. House Select Committee began holding live public hearings for the January 6 insurrection and no one noticed

- Kazuki Takahashi, the creator of the popular anime and playing card game Yu-Gi-Oh!, passed away (R.I.P., may he finally be free to kick Shinzo Abe’s ass without consequence in that great dueling arena in the sky...)

- the Argentinian economic minister has resigned (an announcement that was made not through any official news outlets, but via a Tweet) following an inflation crisis that is crippling the country, but all you’ll find on Twitter is people excited about the new futbol jersey for the next World Cup (no one is surprised by this)

- Elon Musk backed out of his deal to purchase Twitter for $44 billion; it was believed he didn’t know the meaning of the term “pulling out” so this was quite the surprise

- Edit: Twitter is now suing Elon Musk for not buying Twitter

- the President of Sri Lanka (not to be confused with the Prime Minister, because they apparently have both) pulled a Ted Cruz and has fled the country after citizens stormed the presidential palace in a mass riot following the announcing of the country being officially bankrupt (which the Prime Minister, not to be confused with the President, totally didn’t cause via corruption in office). The citizens involved in the protest then stormed the house of the PM, and took a swim in his pool promptly before sacking and burning the place, thus proving the month of July is truly a Hot Girl Summer

Edit: Both the PM and President of Sri Lanka have agreed to resign their positions; that is two world leader resignations and one former world leader assassination in one week; I now have the sudden urge to drink myself into 2040

[hussyknee]

Hussy what's the situation in Sri Lanka right now? Hope you're safe love ❤

Oh I'm quite fine, love, thanks for asking. 😊❤️The chaos seems contained to the capital. The rest of us are encapsulated in this tweet:

(alt text included)

Reply translation: "For real. This is like when the war was in the North. Without fuel there's not even a dog to be seen around here, not even to get a ride to the shops."

As for what the fuck is going on. *Deep breath* This is a very long but simple explainer (I hope) that is as much for my fellow Lankans trying to make sense of everything.

What the fuck is happening in Sri Lanka (as of 4:40pm 14 July 22)

This motherfucker, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, was supposed to hand in his resignation yesterday, after protestors stormed his residence, his office, the prime minister's residence. Two and half million people flooded into the capital until even the cops fucking gave up, signalling to him that it was the end of the road. Except the 20th Amendment to the Constitution that Gota and his stooges had forced through gives him so much power that he can neither be impeached nor removed at all without a voluntary resignation.

So he asked for three days to resign (read: shove as much money as he could into a suitcase and flee), during which he and his family did their damndest to leave the country. Except our people absolutely refused to let them, even with the military at his beck and call. Workers of two different airports walked out rather than process his documentation to board a plane. People waiting at the airports obstructed him getting on a flight. Ports wouldn't let his ship leave the harbour. The US rejected his visa application. Man finally got so panicked that he refused to resign unless the Prime Minister secured a way for him to get the fuck out of here.

Now the Prime Minister, Ranil W, used to be the Opposition Leader and the Rajapaksas number one enemy until he bungled his last stint as Prime Minister so badly that nearly his whole party walked out on him and he couldn't even win his own seat at the last elections. He's been something of a joke in Parliament throughout Gota's term, so when Gota unexpectedly handpicked him to be PM to succeed his brother who we forced to resign, it was a huge political upset. But it was a rather brilliant move that splintered the protests and successfully protected him from having to step down.

But just like the entire rest of his 45 year career, Ranil spent the last 7 weeks making a complete pig's ear of things until he's now somehow even more reviled than he used to be. But Gota's resignation would have meant he got to become President of the caretaker government, and being President had been the ambition he's been clinging to his whole career, like a barnacle of calcified spite and greed. So he was more than happy to find Gota a way out.

Finally the Air Force itself had to take Gota to the Maldives (the President over there is also a wildly unpopular turd) even though the Maldivian people launched a massive protest of their own in response. Maldives was only supposed to be a stop gap to his "final destination" (according to his office, and yes memes ensued) and this fuckwit still did not send in his resignation letter.

Meanwhile, massive demonstrations were taking place all over Colombo, demanding that Ranil also resign to make way for the caretaker government. This assclown instead deployed cops and troops to beat back the crowds, firing tear gas from low-flying helicopters. He also declared a State of Emergency (martial law) and a curfew. Problem was, that only the Executive President has the power to do any of that shit, so everyone was like "Mx'cuse you?" And he was like "ah yeah no belay that". Then the Speaker and PM were like "akshully the President called and said Ranil can totes be President while he's um, overseas" and the whole circus of curfews, troops and martial law was back on track.

People responded to that by taking over Ranil's office as well.

(Also the legal fraternity was in a tizzy because Acting President doesn't have the vested powers of Executive President. But Ranil's dreams were finally almost within his grasp at age 73, what was a possible lawsuit to crossing this off his bucket list.)

Ranil continued throwing a wholeass army at the protestors, insisting that he was trying to protect our democracy from Antifa ( he really fucking said that). At any other time in our history, this has resulted in a horrific bloodbath. But this time, we were in the heart of the city's administrative district, the poshest of neighborhoods with embassies lining the streets. And it wasn't just one minority or marginalized group; it was the majority Sinhalese Buddhists, Sinhalese Christians, Tamils Hindus, Tamil Christians, Muslims, Burghers, foreign nationals, lawyers, the entire media establishment, clergy - the whole damn country on his doorstep, and none of them were even hurting the cops (in fact some of them were even helping the cops and STF wash their own tear gas out of their eyes and giving them tea and biscuits once they gave up trying to hold the line). Ranil then called an All-Party Conference (Friday casual version of Parliament, and no we don't know why we have this either) and asked them to select a new PM. The entire lot of them were instead like "actually we want to you to fuck off" leaving him all hurt and confused. He said "okay fine I will do it just as soon as Gota resigns" in much the same way we tell our Mums we will clean our rooms after we finish watching this one cartoon.

But the hours counted down, the stroke of midnight came and went, and no resignation appeared. By the end of the 13th, we were left with two presidents, one speaker, and an Opposition who wandered in like Donald Glover turning up with a pizza box as though none of them even lived here idk.

(An assorted bunch of wannabe revolutionaries, Rajapaksa plants and a splinter group from an ill-advised demonstration by the socialist party had tried to storm the Parliament in the evening for some godforsaken reason. It's not even in session. The road to which is effectively a killbox and also near Army HQ, and predictably resulted in a hundred people injured and one kid dying from tear gas).

We woke up this morning to Two Presidents, One Country: Part 2. Ranil and PM had come up with an extremely sus "gazette" from the President, who was still sending conflicting reports of his whereabouts. He was headed to Singapore. No he's still in Maldives. No he's now headed to Saudi Arabia. What he was not doing was sending in his fucking resignation, leaving his clown monkey to continue wreaking havoc, and leaving us to follow his flight plan like my cat watching his feather toy zoom around his head. As of this afternoon, the Speaker was debating declaring that the President had vacated his duties and moving this shitshow along, except that opens up in-fighting about legitimacy down the line. Even the Chamber of Commerce asked Ranil to step down, which is hilarious because that's the body of the country's richest old business bros and they'd never done anything like that before. The Commanders of the Tri-Forces also asked Ranil to step down, which is less hilarious and more terrifying because the military is not supposed to interfere in affairs of state at all. It's like if your gun had opinions on who should be shooting it. At best it sets a terrible precedent, at worst it might lead to a junta (military coup of the government). Overall, it's easier to get a five year old out of a bouncy castle that's on fire than getting this butt monkey to fuck off.

Meanwhile the middle class and neoliberals are bleating about the People's Struggle being hijacked by the communist party and trying to start a democracy-face-spitting fascist commie rebellion anarchy movement, there is no fuel even for ambulances, people not at the protests are stuck home, distribution of fuel and cooking gas are being held up, the poor are quite literally starving and watching enraged at all the military vehicles and helicopters zooming around, and the only thing that's doing a roaring trade are the conspiracy theories and breaking news alerts of the Lankan Aunties and Uncles over Facebook and Whatsapp. Ranil, who has taken to declaring curfews early and often even though the protestors have so far not given (1) good goddamn, suddenly declared one in the middle of the day, when people were still at office, leaving the streets of the capital and commercial districts absolutely gridlocked. Anyone who has a medical emergency right now is as good as dead.

Here is our last update from the President.

(alt text included)

Wow you guys, imagine being under a lot of pressure.

(updates cont'd in reblog)

[khaleesiofalicante]

Update from Sri Lanka - 13/07/22 - 13.30PM

Note that I've included a time stamp because there is so much going on right now and whatever I say now can change in the next few hours sigh.

As some of you might know, after the protests on the 09th of July, the president and the prime minister of Sri Lanka released a statement that they are both willing to resign. The president said that he will resign on the 13th - which is today.

Let's see what has happened since then and now.

Firstly, President Gotabaya Rajapaksha repeatedly tried to flee the country. But the immigration officers and the public at the airport (legends) didn't let him leave. The US embassy also refused to give him a visa and the Indian High Commission issued a statement that GR will not be able to land in India. (Thanks for the solidarity, homies).

But of course, after a lot of trying, the president fleed to the Maldives - aided by ex-president Nasheed (fuck you, man).

Since then a lot has changed in the country.

First of all, GR has not resigned as the president. But now he has appointed the PM (who said he will resign) as the acting president. Wtf even.

The prime minister is now trying to issue an emergency curfew (highly unconstitutional) because people are protesting again - especially outside the PM's office.

In essence, neither has resigned. One of them fucking fleed the country and the other is not the president.

Whatever they do, the people are not happy. People are not going to abide by the curfew.

Gotagoma (the village built by the protestors) is currently being monitored by airforce helicopters and they are shooting into the air to intimidate the protestors - not that the protestors care.

But the situation seems extremely tense and volatile.

Because the people issued an ultimatum and the Prez and PM made a promise.

But things are not going as expected - not that we didn't expect them to pull this bullshit.

Just keeping you all posted on the ground situation.

 අරගලයට ජය.

[marquisoforder]

On the topic of Sri Lanka we NEED TO talk about the blatant violation of constitutional and human rights that’s going on in the country right now! Military and police brutality is rampant! Non-violent, peaceful protesters are being attacked ruthlessly by the military and the police in Colombo.

I was at the protest site in GalleFace in front of the presidential secretariat yesterday (09th July 2022) and was subjected to multiple tear gas attacks myself as we were trying to reach the area. We were not doing anything violent or breaking the law in anyway. They also shot tear gas at people who were protesting near the President’s residence. Moments before we got there, the police had also unleashed water canons on the protesters in the area. They had also attacked the protesters near the President’s residence with water canons.

[Police use water cannons to disperse protesters near the president's residence during a demonstration demanding the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, amid the country's economic crisis, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, July 9, 2022. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatta]

[Protesters run away from tear gas used by police during a demonstration demanding the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, amid the country's economic crisis, near the President's residence in Colombo, Sri Lanka, July 9, 2022. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte]

The day before yesterday, on the 8th of July 2022, Inter-University Students’ Federation on a protest march to the same protest site was also heavily attacked with water canons and tear gas. AGAIN the students were in no way or form breaking any laws, committing any crimes, damaging properties or vandalizing anything.

[Police use tear gas and water cannons to disperse protesters near the president's residence during a demonstration demanding the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, amid the country's economic crisis, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on July 8, 2022. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte]

Also armed security forces shot at unarmed peaceful protesters on Chatham Street, Colombo. In this footage you can see that one person collapse and how he has a head injury. And no, they were NOT rubber bullets. Those are apparently live rounds being shot at those civilians.

Also more video footages are emerging of Sri Lanka security forces brutally attacking protesters moments before protesters entered the President's house yesterday.

Last night two media personnel were attacked ON LIVE TV while they were reporting in front of the PM’s residence by the STF-Special Task Force of Sri Lanka. The reporter, a 23 year old named Sarasi Pieris and the cameraman, Waruna Sampath as well as more people from their crew were hospitalized following being repeatedly beaten and brutally assaulted by security detail at the Prime Minister's private residence.

More journalists and media personnel are now speaking out about how the police and the STF tried to get them out of the places they were hiding in order to round them up and wrongfully arrest them. (Thankfully they were on live the whole time.)

This is only a fraction of what they have done. I will keep updating as I come across more credible sources and first hand experiences. So while we all celebrate the achievements from yesterday (which should not be undermined in any way cause after all they are big steps forward in the fight against these corrupt politicians) let’s also be aware of how the government and its pet police and military will not hesitate to immediately attack the very civilians they swore to protect WITHOUT any provocation.

Additionally, under the cut are some reliable sources from Sri Lanka to keep an eye out for updates.

Twitter

News First.lk Sri Lanka

Roel Raymond (journalist)

News Wire

Team Watchdog

Instagram

Dinuka Liyanawatte

Amalini (live updates in stories)

Team Watchdog Instagram

[littleblondesoprano]

So wait wait, lemme get this straight - Boris resigned after 50+ MPs quit, Shinzo Abe was assassinated, protestors in Sri Lanka managed to beat down the police and get into the Presidential place (and now the PM is set to resign), Argentina’s Economy Minister quit over twitter, and Elon Musk is now getting sued by Twitter for trying to back out of the deal, all within the last 48-ish hours?

[lichtensteining]

Why is it that when it comes to shitty government, people in other countries seem to be uhhhhhh doing something about it

Japan — assassination

England — Boris et al resign bc of public outrage at incompetence/outright corruption

Sri Lanka — storm the president’s palace and now the PM and president are resigning

USA — oh well we’re trying to get to the bottom of that whole insurrection thing from a year and a half ago but all the people who are complicit aren’t cooperating :(((( also 5 people took away the rights of hundreds of millions to their own body and we can’t do anything bc our president is useless and Congress is also useless but in a completely different way /: but like… you can vote (note: in November, still doesn’t guarantee any meaningful change)!!! And give politicians more money to do fuck all!!!!

[burninglights]

Hey question, what WAS the final number of island nations with monarchies and pms having a very bad not good time? Out of curiosity i mean

Assuming you mean the 48-72hrs of absolute geopolitical madness that followed the resignation of Boris Johnson; the batshit politics bullshit began with us (the UK), swiftly followed by:

- the assassination of Shinzo Abe in Japan

- power going out for swathes of people in Canada

- Macron having another scandal in France

- strike action in Panama

- the resignation of the econ minister and a currency crash in Argentina

-protests and an uprising in Sri Lanka.

I'm sure there were many more significant political happenings that week, it was definitely one for the records.

(please note that I'm not making light of the effects that these political events had, nor do I intend to make light of the social, political and economic situations that lead up to them. It was a fraught time for many [including one of my close friends, owing to Home Office bullshit with the hostile environment policy] and I'm aware of that.)

And now it's come full circle with Kwasi Kwarteng going "hi, I'm the chancellor, and this is jackass" and tanking the value of the British Pound Sterling with the mini budget, the burgeoning energy crisis and the insane prices that providers are charging as a consequence of privatisation, and the prospect of rolling blackouts and food shortages.

Quoth the raven: oy fucking vey.

[beardedmrbean]

Sri Lanka's embattled government declared a nationwide state of emergency on Wednesday in a bid to contain massive protests that continued after the country's president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, fled to the Maldives. Protesters stormed the homes of both the president and the prime minister over the weekend, demanding that both leaders step down. Sri Lankans blame their government for a dire, months-long economic crisis that has left many struggling to afford basic necessities.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who has taken over as acting president of the country, imposed the emergency order in a bid to wrest back control of the capital city amid the huge protests. But his declaration served only to refocus the demonstrators' anger at him, and his office became an epicenter of the protests on Wednesday.

How an economic crisis led to political chaos in Sri Lanka

Police imposed an indefinite curfew in one province and a nationwide curfew until 5:00 a.m. Sri Lanka sits just off India's southeast coast and is home to about 22 million people.

Wickremesinghe delivered a televised address to the nation on Wednesday, saying security measures had been stepped up and that he'd ordered the military to do whatever was necessary to restore order.

"We must end this fascist threat to democracy," he said. "We can't allow the destruction of state property. The president's office, the president's secretariat and the prime minister's official residence must be returned to proper custody."

"We can't allow fascists to take over. Some mainstream politicians, too, seem to be supporting these extremists. That is why I declared a nationwide emergency and a curfew," Wickremesinghe said.

The prime minister's office said earlier this week that President Rajapaksa would resign on Wednesday to clear the way for a "peaceful transition of power."

But instead of resigning he fled to the Maldives, fueling the anger on the streets.

The Speaker of the Sri Lankan Parliament, Mahinda Yapa Abeywardenam, said Rajapaksa had informed him in a telephone call that he would still resign as promised, but it was unclear if the move was still coming Wednesday — or whether it would do anything to quell the protesters' rage.

The president flew to the Maldives aboard a military aircraft with his wife and two bodyguards, according to the French news agency AFP.

As soon as word of his escape got out on Wednesday, thousands of protesters mobbed Wickremesinghe's office. Seemingly keen to avoid a repeat of the dramatic scenes that played out over the weekend when protesters occupied the president's opulent residence, Sri Lankan security forces fired tear gas at the protesters as they chanted "Go home Ranil! Go home Gota!" referring to the leaders.

Eventually the protesters made it into the building and appeared on its balconies with their fists and phones raised in triumph.

On Saturday, thousands of protesters stormed Rajapaksa's official residence, ransacking parts of it, but also lounging in its luxurious bedrooms, gym, and swimming pool. Families, many with small children, came to soak up the atmosphere and pose for photos in the ornate grounds in what looked like a victory parade for the popular uprising. But the leaders they've protested to force out of power were still both technically holding their offices on Wednesday.

Since the protests erupted late last week, those taking part have demanded the immediate resignations of both the president and the prime minister. The prime minister has said he will only leave his post once a new government is in place.

According to Sri Lanka's constitution, the prime minister takes over as acting president if the president resigns or is incapacitated. The country's lawmakers have held several meetings this week to try to elect a new president, but there has been no consensus.

In the power vacuum, the anger that's built for months over food, medicine and fuel shortages and skyrocketing prices has continued to mount.

Sri Lankans have faced long power cuts this summer and been forced to spend hours in lines at gas stations to buy less than a gallon of fuel. The country's cash reserves are running extremely low, forcing Sri Lanka to default on its massive foreign debt of $51 billion as it's been unable to make interest payments on its loans.

The government blamed the COVID-19 pandemic for sapping the country of its vital tourism income, but economists say there are other factors behind the economic crisis, including political corruption and economic mismanagement.

The government has been in talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to secure a $3 billion bailout package, but the timing of that remained unclear Wednesday.

Meanwhile, some Sri Lankans living in the Maldives staged a protest demanding that the Maldivian government send Rajapaksa back home to face the music. But Sri Lankan news outlet the Daily Mirror reported, quoting unnamed sources, that Rajapaksa would instead fly to Singapore later on Wednesday.

[krazyshoppy]

श्रीलंका में बिगड़े हालात, इस्तीफा देते हुए ये बोले प्रधानमंत्री रानिल विक्रमसिंघे

श्रीलंका में बिगड़े हालात, इस्तीफा देते हुए ये बोले प्रधानमंत्री रानिल विक्रमसिंघे

Ranil Wickremesinghe Resigns: श्रीलंका में आर्थिक संकट को लेकर हुए जोरदार प्रदर्शन के बाद देश के पीएम रानिल विक्रमसिंघे (Ranil Wickremesinghe) ने इस्तीफा दे दिया है. इससे पहले सूत्रों ने बताया था कि पीएम रानिल विक्रमसिंघे ने इस्तीफा देने से इंकार कर दिया है. हालांकि अब उन्होंने खुद ही इस्तीफा देने की घोषणा की है. उन्होंने ट्वीट कर कहा, “सभी नागरिकों की सुरक्षा सहित सरकार की निरंतरता सुनिश्चित…

[spideyspeaches]

Living in a world where PM of Sri Lanka and PM of UK both resign in the same month feels like I'm in a dystopian movie ngl. It's so surreal but also I love it lol

[lettersfrombeyondthegrave]

Between the UK resigning, Japan ex pm assassination and Sri Lanka citizens using the president's house like a B&B: what the fuck is happening this week

[hussyknee]

Wonder if the guy who took out Shinzo wants seconds.

President Gota has fled (although not yet resigned). Otoh, this is our Prime Minister, Sri Lanka's disgraced former Opposition Leader that Gota handpicked out of nowhere and appointed when we toppled his previous PM.

This is completely unrelated to this ask. I just felt like sharing that.