{"id":1420386,"date":"2022-04-05T15:29:59","date_gmt":"2022-04-05T19:29:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1420386"},"modified":"2022-04-05T15:30:03","modified_gmt":"2022-04-05T19:30:03","slug":"sri-lanka-protesters-demand-president-resign-in-los-angeles-new-york","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/sri-lanka-protesters-demand-president-resign-in-los-angeles-new-york\/","title":{"rendered":"Sri Lanka Protesters Demand President Resign in Los Angeles, New York"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fsri-lanka-protesters-demand-president-resign-in-los-angeles-new-york%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1420386&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><\/div>\n<p class=\"subheading\">Protesters in Los Angeles, California, and Staten Island, New York, joined hundreds at home in Sri Lanka this week to demand that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his brother, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, resign amid catastrophic shortages of most basic goods.<\/p>\n<p>Sri Lanka has experienced a collapse in its currency and severe shortages of food, basic medical supplies, gasoline, and electricity that intensified greatly in the past month. The government has imposed daily power outages for as long as 13 hours a day, and hospitals have begun canceling surgeries due to a lack of anesthetics and other critical medications.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p>The Rajapaksa brothers \u2013 which include two others, former\u00a0Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa and former Irrigation Minister Chamal Rajapaksa \u2013 have been a decisive force in Sri Lankan politics for decades. Mahinda Rajapaksa served as president from 2005 to 2019 and presided over the end of the 26-year-old civil war in 2009, cementing the family\u2019s dominance in politics.<\/p>\n<p>Protests, some of them violent, have erupted throughout Sri Lanka demanding the government propose some solutions to the widespread shortages or resign. Last week, hundreds of protesters attempted to storm the presidential residence in Colombo, the national capital, prompting police violence and dozens of arrests and injuries.<\/p>\n<p>The entire Sri Lankan cabinet, except for Mahinda and Gotabaya Rajapaksa but including the other two brothers, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/asia\/2022\/04\/04\/sri-lanka-cabinet-resigns-en-masse-after-food-and-fuel-shortages-protests\/\">resigned<\/a> on Sunday.\u00a0Ali Sabry, appointed finance minister following the mass resignation, also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.news18.com\/news\/world\/sri-lankas-new-finance-minister-resigns-in-less-than-24-hours-oppn-says-wont-be-part-of-interim-govt-top-points-4944026.htm\">resigned<\/a> from his position less than 24 hours after obtaining the job.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>In Los Angeles, protesters organized this week in front of the home of the president\u2019s son, Manoj Rajapaksa, demanding the son pressure his father to resign, according to Sri Lanka\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymirror.lk\/latest_news\/Protest-erupts-outside-GRs-sons-house-in-LA\/342-234458\"><em>Daily Mirror<\/em><\/a>. Manoj lives in the city and is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/gotas-un-jaunt-a-smokescreen-for-family-reunion-in-la-while-lankans-suffer\/\">reportedly<\/a> an American citizen.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe protester [sic] said that President Gotabaya had to go down and his money had to come back. The protester said that people in Los Angeles are with Sri Lankans,\u201d the\u00a0<em>Mirror<\/em> relayed.<\/p>\n<p>Videos on social media showed a congregation of Sri Lankans and allies in Los Angeles on Sunday demanding an end to the crisis in the country and for Gotabaya Rajapaksa to accept responsibility for the collapse of the country.<\/p>\n[embedded content]\n[embedded content]\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>The\u00a0<em>Daily Mirror<\/em> posted images on Monday of a similar protest on Staten Island, New York, where protesters accused the current government of widespread corruption and demanded consequences for those responsible.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Update: Protest in Staten Island, New York, USA \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/lanaoL5vjc\">pic.twitter.com\/lanaoL5vjc<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 DailyMirror (@Dailymirror_SL) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Dailymirror_SL\/status\/1511068145406013440?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 4, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>Staten Island is believed to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ny1.com\/nyc\/all-boroughs\/street-level\/2019\/10\/07\/little-sri-lanka--an-island-nation-unites-on-staten-island\">boast<\/a> a population of about 5,000 Sri Lankan people, one of the biggest in the country. It is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.srilankanmuseny.org\/\">home<\/a> to the\u00a0Sri Lankan Art and Cultural Museum.<\/p>\n<p>Opposition voices in Sri Lankan politics have escalated their condemnation of the Rajapaksa family at home in light of both the shortages and the protests. In a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/rajapaksas-pushing-sri-lanka-towards-a-century-of-humiliation-shame\/\">column<\/a> on Monday,\u00a0Sanka Chandima Abayawardena of the government-unfriendly\u00a0<em>Colombo Telegraph<\/em> lamented that \u201cevery area of social services\u201d in Sri Lanka \u201chas been in crisis for decades,\u201d but that chronic mismanagement and corruption under the Rajapaksas had essentially turned the country into a failed state.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSri Lanka is facing a century of humiliation and shame as the Rajapaksa family is selling the island off to foreign powers to stay in power,\u201d Abayawardena wrote. \u201cSri Lanka is in deep economic trouble. Sri Lanka is going down the same road as Lebanon and Ukraine have both gone before her.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B4\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cThe current debt crisis and balance of payment is just the tip of the iceberg. Every area of social services has been in crisis for decades,\u201d the columnist observed. \u201cConsequences of long ignored structural issues inherited from pre-independent Sri Lanka, exacerbated by decades of misguided policies compound by exploitative nature of our social structures and corruption, are causing a general collapse of the state.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>By February, the collapse of the Sri Lankan rupee had expanded the failure of government services into a daily struggle for many Sri Lankans to afford food.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn February, essential food inflation rose by 25% and overall inflation is close to 18%, while people have been forced to queue for hours to buy fuel, amid rocketing prices,\u201d Sky News <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/asia\/2022\/03\/30\/protests-as-sri-lanka-runs-out-of-fuel-food-medicine\/\">reported<\/a> last week.\u00a0\u201cSince the beginning of March, the Sri Lankan rupee has fallen by almost 45% against the US dollar and its foreign exchange reserves have fallen to crisis levels.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Gasoline lines have become so long and the supply so unstable that local outlets have reported <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/asia\/2022\/03\/22\/sri-lanka-deploys-troops-fuel-shortage-prompts-alleged-murders\/\">murders<\/a> while citizens were waiting to fill their cars.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to mismanagement, protesters accuse the Rajapaksa family of extreme corruption, including the theft of public money that has resulted in a lack of funds to provide for the people. Foreign currency shortages have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/news\/asia\/south-asia\/article\/3172794\/meet-sri-lankas-all-powerful-rajapaksas-under-fire-amid\">resulted<\/a> in the government not being able to purchase imported goods like food and medicine, and, as Sri Lanka is a \u201cdemocratic socialist\u201d country, no private enterprises exist that can better perform this task. Sri Lanka\u2019s official <a href=\"https:\/\/www.parliament.lk\/files\/pdf\/constitution.pdf\">name<\/a> is the \u201cDemocratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>By the end of the week, hundreds were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/asia\/2022\/04\/01\/sri-lanka-mob-storms-presidents-house-country-runs-out-food-gasoline\/\">clamoring<\/a> to storm Gotabaya Rajapaksa\u2019s presidential estate. The government responded with tear gas and water cannons, accusing unspecified \u201corganized\u201d criminal elements of staging the protest. Opposition leaders condemned the government for blaming alleged criminal and terrorist groups for the protests rather than addressing the concerns.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis incident can be described as a result of the collapse of the current political structure,\u201d former prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who endured his own power struggle with Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2019 that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/asia\/2018\/11\/16\/sri-lankan-lawmakers-throw-punches-chili-powder-mass-parliament-brawl\/\">culminated<\/a> in members of parliament throwing chili powder in each other\u2019s eyes, said last week. \u201cThe government has failed to solve the problems that are plaguing the citizens of Sri Lanka. The Opposition has also failed to uphold their responsibility. The government is blaming various groups for the incident, but they must present evidence to support these claims.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps as a response to the protests, the Rajapaksa government <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsfirst.lk\/2022\/04\/04\/6-hour-power-cuts-approved-from-5th-8th-april\/\">announced<\/a> this week that the daily scheduled blackouts would only last six and a half hours between April 5 and 8, as opposed to the 13-hour power cuts <a href=\"https:\/\/economynext.com\/sri-lanka-schedules-power-cuts-up-to-13-hours-for-march-31-92282\/\">last week<\/a>. The shortened time without electricity did not appear to have any effect on the protest movement, as college students in Colombo <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsfirst.lk\/2022\/04\/05\/students-engaging-in-protest-close-to-pms-residence\/\">surrounded<\/a> Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa\u2019s home on Tuesday afternoon, marching and chanting anti-government slogans.<\/p>\n[embedded content]\n<p>The Catholic clergy of Sri Lanka also joined the movement on Tuesday, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsfirst.lk\/2022\/04\/05\/video-cardinal-leads-silent-protest-in-colombo\/\">engaging<\/a> in a silent march in Colombo demanding an end to corruption.\u00a0Archbishop of Colombo Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith participated in the event.<br \/>[embedded content]\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Due to the crisis situation in the country, a prayer to God and a peaceful protest was held in front of the Archdiocese of Colombo. Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith, Archbishop of Colombo, leading Bishops, Fathers and a large number of nuns were present.<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/SriLanka?src=hash&#038;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#SriLanka<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/SLnews?src=hash&#038;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#SLnews<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/D8Qro7cHnI\">pic.twitter.com\/D8Qro7cHnI<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 DailyMirror (@Dailymirror_SL) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Dailymirror_SL\/status\/1511246917166002179?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 5, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u2018The people are calling for the President and the Parliament to resign. The people also want back the money that was stolen,\u201d said Rev. Fr. Cyril Gamini, who attended the protest, told Sri Lanka\u2019s News 1st.<\/p>\n<p><em>Follow Frances Martel on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/francesimartel\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/francesimartel\/&#038;source=gmail&#038;ust=1649240693212000&#038;usg=AOvVaw2G1_7aOrrFB8JlYvlf1xV8\">Facebook<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/francesmartel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/twitter.com\/francesmartel&#038;source=gmail&#038;ust=1649240693212000&#038;usg=AOvVaw3KS-3uKdKCZwSOvHwnFV6G\">Twitter.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Protesters in Los Angeles, California, and Staten Island, New York, joined hundreds at home in Sri Lanka this week to demand that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his brother, Prime Minister<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1420386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1420386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1420386"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1420386\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1420386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1420386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1420386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}