SriLanka: President Rajapaksa declares emergency amid protest

In Sri Lanka, emergency was declared on Friday night after the crippling strike and protest over the external debt for the second time in five weeks. Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa declared a state of emergency citing public security and the protection of public order and for the maintenance of supplies and services essential to the life of the community. The move comes after massive protests across the island nation demanding the resignation of President Rajapaksa and the entire government over the economic crisis in the country. The first state of emergency was declared on April 1, 2022.  A spokesman for the President said he invoked the tough laws to "ensure public order" after trade unions staged a nationwide strike Friday demanding his resignation over a worsening economic crisis.Rajapaksa has insisted he will not step down despite escalating demonstrations across the island, including a protest that has been camped outside his seafront office for nearly a month.

Trade unions staged a nationwide strike demanding President's resignation over the crisis. Over 2,000 trade unions participated in nationwide strike against the President, Prime Minister and the government. Months of blackouts and acute shortages of food, fuel and pharmaceuticals have caused widespread suffering across the island nation of 22 million people. Public anger has sparked sustained protests demanding the government's resignation over its mismanagement of the crisis, Sri Lanka's worst since independence in 1948.