Sri Lanka Crisis: Cabinet Ministers Resign As Curfew, Social Media Blackout Fail To Halt Protests

The Srilankan economic crisis has people endure long hours of power outages as well as a scarcity of essential items. The enraged citizens have been demanding the resignation of President Rajapaksa.

Protestors hold banners and placards during a demonstration against the surge in prices and shortage of fuel and other essential commodities in Colombo on April 3, 2022. (Photo: Ishara S. KODIKARA / AFP)

New Delhi: As Sri Lanka experiences its worst economic crisis of all time, the country's Cabinet of Ministers resigned with immediate effect late on Sunday night.

Education Minister and Leader of the House, Dinesh Gunawardena informed that the Cabinet Ministers handed over their resignations to Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, news agency PTI reported.

He did not state any reason for the mass resignation.

As per PTI, political experts said that the ministers had come under intense pressure from the public over the government's alleged "mishandling" of the economic crisis, triggered by the shortage in the foreign exchange reserve.

Widespread public protests were witnessed throughout the Sunday evening despite the curfew which was imposed till Monday morning.

The enraged citizens have been demanding the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

The government declared a state of emergency after angry protestors surrounded the private residence of Rajapaksa on March 31.

The Srilankan economic crisis has people endure long hours of power outages as well as a scarcity of essential items.

Protests Amid Curfew, Social Media Blackout

The angered public planned a country-wide mass protest triggered by social media on Sunday. However, the government responded to it by imposing a 36-hour curfew, shutting down social media access for the citizens.

Distrubing scenes were seen across the island as Sri Lankan police crackdown on protests calling for President Rajapaksa’s ouster over soaring living costs and a foreign exchange crisis, amid the curfew.

Police personnel fired tear gas and water cannons at hundreds of university students during a protest in the central province, PTI reported. 

The social media curbs were lifted in the second half of Sunday.

The services of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, TokTok, Snapchat, WhatsApp, Viber, Telegram, and Facebook Messenger were restored after 15 hours, PTI cited an official as saying.

Rajapaksa has defended his government saying the foreign exchange crisis was not his making and the economic downturn was largely caused by the pandemic with the island’s tourism revenue and inward remittances waning.