2022 Sri Lankan Protests
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Overview
The 2022 Sri Lankan Protests refers to political protests in the country of Sri Lanka in mid-2022 regarding their President Gotabaya Rajapaksa who'd been accused of excessive spending, corruption and incompetence. His leadership led the country into its worst economic crisis in June 2022. Protestors overran Rajapaksa's home and swam in his pool in July 2022, documented by viral videos and photos from the event. Rajapaksa later fled to the Maldives where he was set to resign, however, his resignation never occurred.
History
The Rajapaksa family had been in power in Sri Lanka since 2005 when Mahinda Rajapaksa was elected President.[1] Rajapaksa won the election mostly because he campaigned on ending the ongoing civil war within the country at that time. Through chauvinism and a sense of empowerment, the Rajapaksas spent lots of government money on huge infrastructure projects that didn't need to be built.[1]
Mahinda Rajapaksa was re-elected in 2010 and served for another term. He was replaced by his brother, Gotabaya Rajapaksa in 2019, who won the election and held power for the family in Sri Lanka.[1] Mahinda Rajapaksa remained as Prime Minister. Gotabaya was objectively more incompetent than his brother. Gotabaya cut taxes, reduced interest rates, sought major loans and printed lots of money just before the COVID-19 Pandemic occurred and dramatically reduced one of Sri Lanka's major income industries: tourism.[1] This led the country into economic turmoil.
Due to Gotabaya Rajapaksa's unpopularity and the rising cost of living in Sri Lanka due to the economic turmoil, the citizens started protesting the government, demanding that Rajapaksa step down. Another factor was the government's prejudice against its Muslim population.[2]
Developments
Protests started in March 2022 that called for the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.[3] These initial protests prompted his brother and former President Mahinda Rajapaksa to resign from Prime Minister, replaced by Ranil Wickremesinghe.
In late June 2022, Sri Lanka was hit with the worst economic crisis in its history since its separation from Britain in 1948.[4] Many Sri Lankans fled the country in search of better work and lives. Prime Minister Wickremesinghe addressed the country at this time and was quoted saying, “Our economy has completely collapsed.” [4] Increased protesting occurred in the country, demanding that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa resign.
Raid of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's House and Pool
On July 8th, 2022, protestors organized to march in front of the President's house in the capital of Colombo.[5] The protestors were met with tear gas and resistance while the President was inside. A curfew was imposed.
The following day, on July 9th, 2022, thousands gathered despite the restrictions for one of the largest anti-government marches in the country's history.[5] Buses filled with protestors arrived at the President's house and were met with resistance, however, they were able to infiltrate the President's residence.[5] Protestors additionally infiltrated the home of Prime Minister Wickremesinghe and the Presidential Secretariat which is the official office of the president.[5]
Protestors were recorded and photographed jumping into President Rajapaksa's pool and roaming the rooms of his home. A video documenting it was uploaded to Twitter on July 9th by the Twitter[6] account WorldBreakingN9, earning roughly 6 million views in four days (shown below).
Sri Lankan protesters find some relief from the Colombo heat…in the pool in President Rajapaksa's official residence. #SriLankaProtests #SriLankaCrisis pic.twitter.com/tNtClOFric
— World conflicts Monitoring Center (@WorldBreakingN9) July 9, 2022
Some protestors were even bathing in the President's pool like in one video posted by Twitter[7] user SumitLegal on July 9th, earning roughly 49,800 views in four days (shown below).
#BREAKING #SriLanka Protestors storm Sri Lankan President's residence; local media video show's protesters bathing in the swimming pool. #SriLankaProtests #SriLankaEconomicCrisis pic.twitter.com/mqFez1zoR8
— Sumit Kumar (@SumitLegal) July 9, 2022
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa Resigning
On July 12th, 2022, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled Sri Lanka to the Maldives without resigning.[8] He was met with protesters in the Maldives as well, captured in a video uploaded to Twitter on July 12th by Twitter[9] user lukshayanmuthu, earning roughly 58,000 views in less than a day (shown below).
Protest in Maldives by Maldivians and SriLankans demanding the Maldivian government to deport @GotabayaR to SriLanka . #GoHomeGota #gohomeranil #EconomicCrisis pic.twitter.com/WPXmephCsQ
— Lukshayan Muthukumarasamy (@lukshayanmuthu) July 13, 2022
Rajapaksa stated that he would step down officially on Wednesday, July 13th, however, the resignation was delayed.
Search Interest
External References
[1] The Guardian – How the Rajapaksa family fell after 15 years at the top in Sri Lanka
[2] The Conversation – Sri Lanka’s protests show a fragile unity – for now
[3] The Guardian – ‘The family took over’: how a feuding ruling dynasty drove Sri Lanka to ruin
[4] The Guardian – ‘I must stay strong’: hardship for workers fleeing Sri Lanka’s broken economy
[5] Sky News – What is happening in Sri Lanka?
[6] Twitter – @WorldBreakingN9
[7] Twitter – @SumitLegal
[9] Twitter – @lukshayanmuthu
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