Crisis in Sri Lanka: As the entire system crumbled in India's neighbouring country Sri Lanka, the houses of the President-Prime Minister have been occupied by thousands of people.
Currently, nobody knows what will happen next—not the public, not the leaders, not the officials. Sri Lanka's economic crisis is currently evolving into a political crisis as well.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the president, has consented to step down. Ranil Wickremesinghe, the prime minister, has also made a resignation offer. In such a case, the formation of an all-party government there has already begun.
The meeting of the Parliamentary Affairs Committee has been scheduled for Monday.
The political situation of the country will be discussed in this meeting. The election of the new President and the establishment of the new government will be discussed during this meeting.
On Saturday, the people of Sri Lanka, who have been struggling with the economic crisis for months, lost their cool. The presidential mansion was occupied by thousands of demonstrators.
The private residence of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was also set ablaze on the same day. Thousands of people have been standing at the presidential residence in Colombo for three days.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the president has gone to a secret location. From there he told Prime Minister Wickremesinghe that he will resign from his post on July 13.
According to the Constitution of Sri Lanka, if the President resigns from his post, the Prime Minister automatically becomes the acting President. The prime minister remains the acting president until a new president is elected.
But, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has also spoken of resigning. In such a situation, the constitution says that if both the President and the Prime Minister resign, the Speaker becomes the acting President for 30 days.
In light of Sri Lanka's ongoing political situation, Speaker Abeywardana will now serve as acting president.
However, Parliament will be required to select a new President within 30 days. There are still 2 years left in the term of the President.
That is, the new President will remain in this post for two years.
With 22 crore population, Sri Lanka is experiencing its worst economic downturn since gaining independence in 1948. There is also a shortage of necessities like food and medicine.
People are queuing to buy kerosene oil and LPG cylinders for cooking.
Thousands and millions of people have been on the streets for months. People are demanding the resignation of the President and the Prime Minister.
Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned in May when people's anger broke out on the streets. And now President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is also going to resign.
Not only this but the number of trains has also been reduced. Hundreds of people are forced to stand in line for hours to buy fuel in several major cities, including the capital Colombo. Sometimes people also have clashed with the police and the army.
According to the sources, the situation in Sri Lanka has become so bad that schools have to be closed. Fuel has also been limited to only essential services.
Due to a shortage of petrol and diesel, patients are not able to go to the hospital. Food prices are skyrocketing.
Relations with China have grown since the Mahinda Rajapaksa government came to power in 2015.
Huge loans were provided by China in the pretext of infrastructure. China is believed to be the major reason behind Sri Lanka's economic crisis.
Sri Lanka's foreign exchange reserves decreased sharply due to taking more debt and earning less.
In April 2018, there was a foreign exchange reserve of about $ 10 billion, which has come down to $ 1.7 billion by May 2022.
The foreign debt on Sri Lanka continued to increase. According to Sri Lanka's central bank, the country had an external debt of $21.6 billion in 2010, which increased to $46.6 billion in 2016.
At present, Sri Lanka has a debt of more than $ 51 billion.
Sri Lanka's economy is heavily reliant on tourism. Corona has had a negative impact on tourism.
The share of tourism and allied sectors in Sri Lanka's GDP is around 10%. The absence of international visitors also resulted in a decline in foreign exchange reserves.