Sri Lanka protests movement hit 100 days

• The protest movement in Sri Lanka reached its 100th day on Sunday.
• Gotabaya Rajapaksa left his palace right before protesters stormed it last weekend.
• His incompetence is blamed for Sri Lanka’s financial upheaval, which has resulted in food, gasoline, and medical shortages.

COLOMBO: The protest movement in Sri Lanka reached its 100th day on Sunday, having pushed one president from office and now focusing on his replacement, as the country’s economic crisis persists.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa left his palace right before protesters stormed it last weekend, and he gave up his job as president on Thursday.

His incompetence is blamed for Sri Lanka’s financial upheaval, which has resulted in food, gasoline, and medical shortages for the country’s 22 million people since late last year.

The effort to unseat Rajapaksa, which was organised mostly through Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok posts, gathered participants from across Sri Lanka’s frequently insurmountable ethnic divides.

Minority Tamils and Muslims united with the majority Sinhalese to seek the expulsion of the once-powerful Rajapaksa clan due to economic problems.

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It began as a two-day protest on April 9, when tens of thousands of people camped out in front of Rajapaksa’s office — a gathering so big that the organisers decided to extend it.

According to Sri Lanka’s constitution, as soon as Rajapaksa stepped down as president, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe took over as acting president. He is now the most popular choice to replace Rajapaksa permanently in a vote in parliament next week.

The protesters don’t like the experienced politician because he works with the Rajapaksa clan, which is made up of four brothers who have been in charge of politics on the island for decades.

Prasad Welikumbura, a social media activist and protest campaign backer, stated that Wickremesinghe should also resign.

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