Gotabaya declares Emergency again as protests escalate

This is the second emergency in little over a month

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Friday declared an Emergency, for the second time in little over a month, amid escalating citizens’ protests, and massive trade union action, in the wake of an Friday unprecedented economic crisis.

Mr. Gotabaya earlier declared Emergency regulations on April 1, after street protests intensified in Sri Lanka, as citizens struggled to access and afford essential items including food, fuel, and medicines, amid acute shortages and skyrocketing prices. He revoked the Emergency in five days, ahead of a possible vote on it in Parliament.

Friday’s move came a day after hundreds of youth gathered outside the Parliament, in addition to ongoing protests near the Presidential Secretariat and Prime Minister’s official residence, demanding that the Rajapaksa brothers resign.