Political crisis in Sri Lanka
The 2022 Sri Lankan political crisis was a political crisis in Sri Lanka due to the power struggle between President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the people of Sri Lanka. It was fueled by the anti-government protests and demonstrations by the public due to the economic crisis in the country. The anti-government sentiment across various parts of Sri Lanka has triggered significant political instability in the nation.
The political crisis began on 3 April 2022, after all 26 members of the Second Gotabaya Rajapaksa cabinet with the exception of Prime Minister Rajapaksa resigned en masse overnight. Some critics argued that the resignation did not follow constitutional protocol, questioning its validity, and several were reinstated in different ministries the next day. There were even growing calls on forming a caretaker government to run the country or for snap elections, but the latter option was deemed unviable due to paper shortages and concerns over election expenditure, which would often cost in billions.
Protestors have taken to streets to show their anger and displeasure over the mismanagement of the economy by the government and the protestors urged the President Gotabaya to immediately step down for a political change; he refused to do so, later eventually fleeing to Singapore and resigning on 14 July. Main opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya had determined to abolish the 20th amendment by bringing a private members Bill in order to scrap the executive powers of Executive Presidency.
Background.
After the 2019 and 2020 elections.
The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) recorded a landslide victory with a majority during the 2020 Sri Lankan parliamentary election. The SLPP gained the support of the majority Sinhala Buddhists, which was part of the election manifesto by the party during its election campaign. The SLPP government also gained majority support thanks to its handling of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Gotabaya was elected as the 7th executive President of Sri Lanka during the 2019 presidential election, who won with a majority of 6.9 million votes. His military background and role as defense secretary in ending the 26-year Sri Lankan Civil War in May 2009 contributed to his public image.
He received significant public attention and support, as reported by, when he was nominated as the presidential candidate for the 2019 elections, after Sri Lanka was still reeling from the aftermath of the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings. The government was formed, with former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa being appointed as the Prime Minister. Most members of the Rajapaksa family secured important ministerial portfolios in the newly formed government in 2020, with Chamal Rajapaksa being appointed as Minister of Agriculture, Namal Rajapaksa appointed as the Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs, and Basil Rajapaksa appointed as the Minister of Finance. The opposition accused the government of nepotism, with five members of the Rajapaksa family being in the ruling party's government. The government stated that the appointments were based on preferential votes and the mandate from the 2020 parliamentary election, though this claim is contested.
2021 onwards.
The year 2021 saw a decline in the popularity of the Gotabaya Rajapaksa-led government, with criticism arising from various stakeholders regarding its policy implementation. Although the government was credited for its successful handling of the first wave of the pandemic and for its successful vaccination drives amid misinformation about vaccines, the popularity of the Rajapaksa-led government began diminishing from 2021 due to its poor handling of the economy.
Moreover, the decision to ban chemical fertilizers overnight created significant backlash, particularly from farmers who criticized the move. Reports suggest that Gotabaya consulted Vandana Shiva, an Indian scholar and anti-GMO activist, for the decision, although this has not been independently confirmed. Gotabaya announced plans to make Sri Lanka the first country in the world to adopt 100% organic farming. The chemical fertilizer ban was linked to a decrease in agricultural yield, which some critics attribute to the policy decision. The impact of a sudden chemical fertiliser ban was felt with the purchasing behavior of public as Sri Lanka witnessed lengthy queues to buy important essential food items and other stuff including sugar, milk powder, kerosene oil and cooking gas.
In September 2021, the government declared an economic emergency, as the situation was further aggravated by the falling national currency exchange rate, inflation rising as result of high food prices, and pandemic restrictions in tourism which further decreased the country's income. The government invoked emergency regulations to control prices of essential food items. The government accused the traders and businesses for hoarding essential food items such as sugar and milk powder, which according to government led to massive food shortages. Government officials stated that the Sri Lankan media coverage contributed to public fears, though media outlets have denied this claim. It was reported that the national emergency was declared on 30 August 2021 and the Parliament of Sri Lanka approved it on 6 September 2021. In November 2021, Sri Lanka abandoned its plan to become the world's first organic farming nation following rising food prices and weeks of protests against the plan.
Reports of gas cylinder explosions in houses and hotels raised public safety concerns and criticism of government oversight as many people started to use electric cookers and ovens due to fear of using biogas. A decline in foreign reserves led to restrictions on imports. The first part of the import ban was imposed on motor vehicles, which angered the vehicle importers as it severely affected their livelihoods. The threat of the Delta variant also further dampened any hopes of recovery for the tourism industry. In addition, foreign remittances to Sri Lanka also began declining in 2021, which further dented the country's GDP. The government also faced continuous strikes by school teachers, demanding higher salaries, with teachers engaging in online education strikes, which disrupted school education.
Ugandan links.
On 14 April 2021, SriLankan Airlines, the national flag carrier, claimed on Twitter that the airline's cargo division had operated three successive cargo charter flights to Entebbe International Airport in Uganda, airlifting over 102 metric tonnes of printed material in February 2021. The information on what the printed material was were not revealed by the airline due to air cargo confidentiality. It later deleted the tweet for unknown reasons, and it created doubts about the transparency of SriLankan Airlines and speculations arose about the transfer of "printed papers" cargo charter flights which departed to Uganda in February 2021.
SriLankan Airlines later issued a statement claiming that the printed material which was airlifted to Uganda only included Ugandan shillings, and it further revealed that due to security issues with bordering Kenya, the Ugandan government preferred to obtain the printed Ugandan shillings notes from a global security printer. The Biyagama branch of the De La Rue company is responsible for printing currency notes to multiple countries, including Uganda. SriLankan Airlines insisted that the consignment was purely commercial in nature and brought much needed foreign revenue to the airlines as well as for the country.
Several sources claimed that prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa had maintained close ties with Uganda, especially during his second term as president from 2010 to 2015. Mahinda Rajapaksa was also reported to have befriended the Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Uganda, Velupillai Kananathan, during his first official presidential trip to Uganda in 2014.
Uganda had been targeted for a possible blacklisting by the FATF, for falling to comply with anti-money laundering laws and for continuously engaging in various financial crimes. The news of Uganda's possible blacklisting due to money laundering went viral in Sri Lanka among protestors and social media users, with speculations circulated on social media that members of the Rajapaksa family and other politicians might have transferred wealth to Uganda via SriLankan Airlines cargo flights.
Aspen Medical links.
In May 2022, Australian investigative journalism program "Four Corners" alleged that Aspen Medical, an Australian health service company, had been involved in a high-profile money laundering scandal following its involvement in the construction of the multi-million dollar Hambantota General Hospital during Mahinda Rajapaksa's presidency in 2012. According to the Four Corners documentary, the company had obtained an $18.8 million insurance guarantee from the Australian government, through Export Finance Australia, the country's export credit agency
The payments made by Aspen Medical in Sri Lanka amounted to €1.4 million (equivalent to US$2.1 million), and was made to a shell company domiciled in the British Virgin Islands, called Sabre Vision Holdings, which was owned by Nimal Perera, a Sri Lankan businessman who has close ties with the Rajapaksa family. Perera claimed that in 2016, he collected the funds for sports minister Namal Rajapaksa, and as a result, he was arrested and released on bail shortly later. After the release of the documentary, Perera denied wrongdoing and insisted that it is a conspiracy to undermine his reputation by the Rajapaksa government.
Protests.
Sri Lankans took to the streets calling on the President and the government to step down. Many young adults, including university students, took part in peaceful protests calling for a major overhaul of the system and urged lawmakers to pave way for youngsters to lead the country. Protestors also demanded the removal of the 20th amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution, as well as the abolition of the Executive Presidency. Few protestors also urged all 225 MPs to go home to elect new faces in the parliament. During the protests, there were growing calls to elect educated academic people to parliament and also there were calls to reveal the net worth and assets of the politicians.
Political instability.
Political instability grew with the resignation of 26 cabinet ministers on 3 April 2022. The resignations were deemed null and void, according to the provisions of Twentieth Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka, as the ministers tendered their resignations to the Prime Minister instead of the President. The Sports and Youth Minister and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa's son Namal Rajapaksa, brothers Chamal Rajapaksa and Basil Rajapaksa also resigned.
The president immediately made major steps to form an all-party interim government and invited all the parties to form a new government as a temporary solution up until the 2022 Sri Lankan presidential election and next Sri Lankan parliamentary election in 2025. The all party interim government would still have both President and Prime Minister unchanged but the cabinet of ministers would have included members representing various parties. The main oppositions SJB and JVP declined the proposal and urged the entire government including the President to resign. There were rumours and speculations regarding the fact that Mahinda Rajapaksa would resign from his position as Prime Minister but the rumours were deemed false as it was revealed that Mahinda would stay in power.
On 4 April 2022, a temporary cabinet with four ministers was formed by Gotabaya Rajapaksa and these four ministers who were part of the cabinet ministries which resigned due to the crisis had been reshuffled to different ministerial positions. In the cabinet reshuffle, Ali Sabry was appointed as Finance Minister, G. L. Peiris was appointed as Foreign Minister, Dinesh Gunawardena was appointed as Education Minister, and Johnston Fernando was appointed as Minister of Highways. On 5 April, Ali Sabry tendered his resignation as Minister of Finance, having served only one day in office. In addition, he also intended to resign from his national list MP post. Sabry then revoked his resignation and remains as the finance minister.
On 5 April, the parliament reconvened for the first time since the state of emergency began and were set to discuss the current state of affairs. The ruling SLPP government began losing the support of its key allies consisting of 41 MPs: 9 MPs of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) decided to move away from the government and to work as independent persons, while the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), the Ceylon Workers' Congress (CWC) and the All Ceylon Makkal Congress (ACMC) left the government and moved into opposition. MP Harin Fernando urged to make Harsha de Silva as Sri Lankan President for at least six months with the former indicating Harsha's wide knowledge and understanding about the economy.
On 6 April 2022, the opposition party SJB held placards and protested inside Parliament demanding that Gotabaya Rajapaksa resign immediately. The SJB party said that it would try to bring a no-confidence motion in Parliament if the President and Prime Minister do not step down.
On 7 April 2022, the private sector of Sri Lanka collectively in writing made a