(Colombo) Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Friday declared a state of emergency for the second time in five weeks, granting sweeping powers to security forces to deal with anti-government protests.
Posted at 1:22 p.m.
A spokesman for the presidency explained that the Head of State was taking this measure to “maintain public order” after a general strike organized the same day by the unions, which demanded his resignation against a backdrop of worsening economic crisis.