The clashes left nine dead in two days and nearly 300 injured. The Head of State ordered the police to shoot real bullets on Wednesday while promising to reduce his large powers.
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armored vehicles and armed soldiers are now patrolling the streets of Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka. A curfew is in effect throughout the island of 22 million inhabitants. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa clings to power, with the hope of strengthening the anger that has overwhelmed the country for months and which has taken a very violent tour for a few days. The head of state, whose population demands departure, ordered the police on Wednesday 11 on Wednesday 11 to shoot real bullets to avoid “anarchy”.
Two days earlier, his brother Mahinda had been forced to leave his Prime Minister’s chair, while demonstrators were trying to invade his official residence. The resigning head of government and his family had to be extracted by the soldiers. They were placed in the shelter in a naval base in Trincomalee, on the northeast coast of the country. The government has been dissolved.
The peaceful demonstrations that punctuate the life of the island for two months have transformed into violent clashes, after supporters of the Rajapaka clan armed with sticks and batons organized a punitive action against opponents of the regime installed before the Palace of the President, deemed responsible for an economic and financial crisis of unprecedented magnitude.
These incidents triggered an insurrectional movement. The demonstrators attacked many buildings and properties of the Rajapaksa clan or deputies of the majority; Buses and vehicles have been destroyed. The island has plunged into chaos. The clashes left nine dead in two days and nearly 300 injured; 104 buildings and 60 vehicles were burned down.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa addressed the nation on the evening on Wednesday. In a television speech, the president announced that he renounces most of his prerogatives. He promised to appoint a new Prime Minister, to give more power to Parliament and to abolish the presidential system and its all-powerful executive.
collapse of the economy
“I take measures to appoint a new Prime Minister in the week which has the confidence of the majority of the Parliament, which can gain the confidence of the people and a new government to control the current situation, to prevent the country from falling In anarchy and to continue the functions of the government which are in a standstill, said Gotabaya Rajapaksa. I will leave room for the new Prime Minister to present a new work program and implement it. “
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