Sri Lanka’s government on Tuesday ordered law enforcement to ‘shoot on sight’ looters and those involved in violence, amid the country’s deadliest clashes in weeks that prompted a resignation of the prime minister.
Several hundred demonstrators nevertheless defied the curfew in Colombo, capital of this island of 22 million inhabitants in the grip of a historic economic crisis.
The UN has denounced “the escalation of violence” and asked the authorities to start a dialogue with the population, which is exasperated by months of serious shortages of food, fuel and medicine and which is demanding the departure of the Rajapaksa family from power. The European Union urged all parties to avoid violence.
The Ministry of Defense announced on Tuesday that “security forces have been ordered to shoot on sight anyone who will loot public property or attempt the life” of others. Tens of thousands of soldiers have been deployed on the streets of the country.
In response, protesters burned down dozens of ruling party politicians’ homes and attempted to storm the prime minister’s official residence in the capital.
A luxury hotel believed to belong to a relative of the Rajapaksa family was also set on fire Tuesday evening near the Sinharaja rainforest (south).
Earlier in the day, the number two of the national police was slightly injured by the crowd and his vehicle was set on fire, near the residence of the prime minister in Colombo, according to the authorities.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said on Tuesday she was “deeply disturbed” after supporters of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa “attacked peaceful protesters in Colombo” on Monday, as well as by “the mob attacks on members of the ruling party that followed”.
“People are angry after the attacks on us yesterday. And despite the curfew, we have a lot of volunteers who come to bring us food and water,” said one protester, Chamal Polwattage, adding, “We will not leave until the president [Gotabaya Rajapaksa] won’t go away. »
Monday’s clashes left eight people dead, including two police officers, and more than 200 injured, police said. It is the deadliest day since April 19, when the repression of an anti-government demonstration left one dead and more than 24 injured in the center of the country. Dozens of buildings and hundreds of vehicles were set on fire.
Sri Lankan protesters and religious leaders have blamed the prime minister, who resigned, for inciting his supporters to violence.
“Arrest those responsible for instigating violence, regardless of their political position,” ordered his troops Chandana Wickramaratne, the police chief. The latter, like the local human rights commission, announced the opening of an investigation.
” Bad pass “
The country has been rocked for several weeks by daily demonstrations against the Rajapaksa government, after months of shortages marking the most serious economic crisis since independence, proclaimed in 1948. The authorities announced that the curfew would be lifted on Wednesday morning . Offices, shops and schools remained closed on Tuesday.
The military exfiltrated Mahinda Rajapaksa from his official residence early on Tuesday, after thousands of protesters forced one of the gates and attempted to storm the building where the president’s brother, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, had taken refuge with his family.
“My father is safe, he is in a safe place,” his eldest son, Namal Rajapaksa, 35, a lawyer by training, told Agence France-Presse. He added that his father would remain an MP and intended to play an active role in choosing his successor.
“We will not leave the country,” he stressed, calling the national anger against his family a “bad patch”.
On Monday, in Nittambuwa, about 50 kilometers north of the capital, a ruling party MP, Amarakeerthi Athukorala, killed himself after shooting two anti-government protesters who were blocking his car. Two other people were killed during the day, in Weeraketiya (south), where a member of the ruling party fired on demonstrators.
Attempts at talks
The president is still in office, with sweeping powers and command of the security forces. Even with a coalition government, he will be able to appoint and dismiss ministers and judges, and enjoy immunity.
Opposition parties said on Tuesday they had called off coalition talks with the government after the outbreak of violence. But according to political sources, attempts were still ongoing to arrange an online meeting between the president and all political parties.
For Akhil Bery, of the Asia Society Policy Institute, whatever happens, the next government will have to take “unpopular decisions” to straighten out the crumbling economy.
Any bailout by the International Monetary Fund, currently being negotiated, would mean “raising taxes and cutting government spending, which is a politically toxic combination.”