Sri Lanka’s CID to probe violence targeting anti-govt. protesters
The Hindu
No word yet on a new PM or Cabinet to govern crisis-hit island
The Sri Lanka Police’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has been tasked with probing the concerted attack on anti-government protesters, police said on Tuesday, a day after a pro-Rajapaksa mob went on a rampage at agitation sites in capital Colombo and in central Kandy district.
The death toll in the attacks, which the protesters accused the police of “simply watching”, rose to eight on Tuesday. Nearly 220 persons were hospitalised after suffering injuries in the brutal assault, and in the targeted, violent retaliation by incensed citizens. Dozens of houses belonging to Ministers and Members of Parliament, including the Rajapaksas’ ancestral village home, were torched.
The Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL), a professional body of lawyers, called for an independent investigation and the immediate arrest of “all persons who instigated, conspired to unleash the violent mob…irrespective of the positions they held in government or of their family connections”. The BASL also sought a travel ban on them.
Mahinda Rajapaksa stepped down from his premiership on Monday, shortly after his supporters assaulted peaceful protesters outside the Prime Minister’s official residence and near the Presidential Secretariat. On Tuesday evening, amid heightened anger against the government over the violence unleashed by the ruling party’s supporters, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said on Twitter: “I appeal and urge people to remain calm & stop violence & acts of revenge against citizens, irrespective of political affiliations. All efforts will be made to restore political stability through consensus, within constitutional mandate & to resolve economic crisis.”
According to the Sri Lankan Constitution the President must appoint as Prime Minister any lawmaker, he thinks, commands a majority in Parliament. However, the government has no Prime Minister in waiting, who has yet claimed having the confidence of the majority of lawmakers. The main Opposition party, along with its allies and other parties, has less than half the number of seats in the 225-member Parliament. Regardless, Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa has emphatically stated that he will not be part of any interim arrangement under the current President.
Further, it remains to be seen how Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa’s resignation, after obvious friction with his younger brother and the President, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, might impact the ruling party in the legislature. The Parliament stands adjourned till May 17. “Restoring political stability”, as Mr. Gotabaya has promised, may hence not be easy — that too when the island endures an agonising economic meltdown that pushed citizens to anti-Rajapaksa street protests months ago.
In fact, the recent turbulence could discourage bilateral partners and creditors from extending the promised support, a tweet from a top World Bank official showed. “We are deeply concerned with the perpetration of violence in #SriLanka. Those responsible are only standing in the way of the country’s immediate economic recovery and making the task even more difficult for development partners,” World Bank Country Director Faris Hadad-Zervos said. Several Colombo-based diplomats have condemned the violence, voicing serious concern.
With a new government in place in Delhi, Singapore hopes to schedule the Ministerial Roundtable with India shortly, says Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan. In an exclusive interview, he speaks about the impact of the elections on ties, the “missed opportunity” of RCEP and the new buzz around Andhra Pradesh’s capital Amaravati.