Foreign Affairs

Sri Lankan Prime Minister To Resign After Protests Over Collapsed Economy

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Sri Lanka’s prime minister has agreed to step down after mass protests over the dire state of Sri Lanka’s economy, according to multiple reports.

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Rani Wickremesinghe earlier admitted that the economy had gone “bankrupt,” according to CNN. Fuel and food shortages and extreme inflation prompted thousands of protesters to the Presidential Secretariat and President Gotabaya Rajapaska’s residence earlier on Saturday in retribution for policies that allegedly contributed to the island country’s economic collapse, the Associated Press reported.

To ensure the continuation of the Government including the safety of all citizens I accept the best recommendation of the Party Leaders today, to make way for an All-Party Government.

To facilitate this I will resign as Prime Minister.

— Ranil Wickremesinghe (@RW_UNP) July 9, 2022

Parliamentary leaders pleaded with the president and prime minister to resign at an emergency meeting Saturday, the Sri Lanka-based NewsWire reported. Wickremesinghe initially rejected calls to step down, the outlet reported.

At Speaker’s Residence urgent Party Leader’s meeting. Several other Leaders including PM, AKD and Sumanthiran participated via zoom. Decision to ask both President and PM to resign. Speaker to take over as temporary President according to constitution. pic.twitter.com/RyauaIvCei

— Rauff Hakeem (@Rauff_Hakeem) July 9, 2022

The president’s location is currently unknown, according to NewsWire.

Video footage depicted protesters carrying flags, swimming in the president’s pool and overturning barricades, shouting “Gota go home,” the AP reported.

Accusations of corruption have been stirring for months, according to the AP. Sri Lanka’s previous prime minister, Rajapaksa’s brother, stepped down in May after violent protests, the AP reported.

“[Rajapaksa] and his family have been accused of running the country for their own benefit,” Vijay Jayaraj, a researcher at the CO2 Coalition, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. The country’s ban on artificial fertilizers could have been a ploy “to save his face and to reduce the burden of the crunch in foreign currencies to buy imports.”

Sri Lanka’s economy collapsed after a ban on chemical fertilizers, intended to encourage environmentally-friendly organic farming practices, halved agricultural production so that the country was no longer self-sufficient. Global food shortages and a drop in tourism caused by the COVID-19 pandemic caused Sri Lanka to expend its foreign exchange reserves, forcing it into bankruptcy.

“When the history books are written years and decades from now that will prove a turning point,” Peter Earle, an economist at the American Institute for Economic Research, told the DCNF. “Hopefully there’s a recovery, but I just hope that in the future… policymakers understand that farmers tend to know their business.”

Europe is experiencing similar backlash over policies that ostensibly help the environment.

Over 40,000 Dutch farmers revolted against a government-mandated policy to reduce emissions Monday, obstructing roads and other critical infrastructure and vandalizing government residences. The regulations could devastate the agriculture sector and force a third of livestock farms out of business, DW reported.