Leaders must heed the voice of the people – the opposition MP
Our World Service colleagues heard from Harini Amarasuriya, opposition MP for the National People’s Power party.
From Sri Lanka’s capital, Colombo, she says her party stands with the people, the protesters, because their demands for the resignation of the prime minister and president are just.
Without their resignation, she told BBC Newshour, people will not get off the streets, adding that a meeting of party leaders is currently underway.
Leaders must begin to understand the seriousness of the people’s movement, he says.
“This is not some potty-mouth protest movement. People have been protesting for months and have been really committed to this whole movement.”
“Leaders need to listen to the voices of the people and step down,” he says.
Protesters broke through a security cordon protecting the prime minister’s office in Sri Lanka’s capital, Colombo, this morning.
Protesters were in a tense standoff for hours with police, who fired tear gas in an attempt to disperse the crowd and keep them out of the building.
But after several attempts, the crowd managed to pull down parts of the gate and enter the compound.
Why is Sri Lanka in an economic crisis?
As we reported, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country and said he would step down after months of protests over soaring prices and shortages of food and fuel.
The country’s foreign exchange reserves have practically dried up, meaning it does not have enough funds available to buy goods from other countries.
In May, Sri Lanka defaulted on its foreign debt for the first time in its history.
The government is blaming the Covid pandemic for affecting Sri Lanka’s tourism trade – one of its biggest foreign currency earners.
It also says tourists have been spooked by a series of deadly bombings in 2019.
However, many experts blame economic mismanagement.