Sri Lanka renews state of emergency ahead of decisive vote

Published on: 07/18/2022 – 08:26 Acting President Ranil Wickremesingh renewed the state of emergency ahead of a vote to appoint the new head of state, a week after the resignation and the escape of Gotabaya Rajapaksa pushed towards the exit by an unprecedented popular mobilization in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka’s interim president renewed the state of emergency on Monday (July 18) ahead of a parliamentary vote to appoint a new head of state, in which he is one of the main candidates. Ranil Wickremesinghe automatically became interim president when Gotabaya Rajapaksa resigned last week after fleeing to Singapore. The state of emergency allows troops to arrest and detain suspects, and the president to pass regulations that override existing laws to deal with any unrest. The state of emergency was already in place but the Parliament had not convened to ratify the declaration as required, and Wickremesinghe extended it from Monday “in the interest of public safety”, he said. Police and military have stepped up security ahead of Wednesday’s vote to elect a president for the remainder of Rajapaksa’s term, which ends in November 2024. Rajapaksa. The ex-president was forced to flee when tens of thousands of protesters stormed his official residence after months of protests across the country demanding his resignation due to the economic crisis. The country’s 22 million people have suffered severe shortages of basic necessities since late last year, with the country running out of foreign currency to fund essential imports. The country defaulted on its $51 billion foreign debt in mid-April and is in talks with the IMF for a possible bailout. With AFP