Sri Lanka's Defence Ministry asks citizens to assist in managing economic crisis

Ministry cancels leaves of all security personnel

Sri Lanka’s Defence Ministry has appealed to the public to assist it in managing the current economic crisis and unrest in the country with "utmost intelligence and patience" and also cancelled the leaves of all security personnel, following the declaration of a state of emergency in the country by embattled President Gotabya Rajapaksa.

In a special Cabinet meeting on Friday, President Rajapaksa declared a state of emergency with effect from Friday midnight. This is the second emergency declared in just over a month. Mr Rajapaksa had declared an emergency on April 1 also after a mass protest opposite his private residence. He had revoked it earlier on April 5.

Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Defence on Saturday announced that due to the declaration of a state of emergency, the leave of security forces personnel is cancelled, the Daily Mirror newspaper reported.

All military personnel are to report to duty with immediate effect, said the Ministry of Defence.

In a separate statement, the ministry requested all citizens to "assist in managing the current economic and social crisis and unrest in the country with the utmost intelligence and patience."

"It must be stated that we all respect the democratic right of the people of Sri Lanka to peacefully express their agitations and protests within the democratic framework," the statement said, amidst weeks of protests demanding the resignation of the President and the government, blaming the powerful Rajapaksa clan for mishandling the island nation's economy, already hit by the pandemic.