- Title: TIMELINE - How Sri Lankan protests unfolded
- Date: 13th July 2022
- Summary: Sri Lankans roamed through a ransacked presidential palace the next day as calm returned to the commercial capital, a day after protesters stormed the building and forced President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to announce his resignation. COLOMBO, SRI LANKA (FILE - JULY 10, 2022) (ANI - No use India) VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS ROAMING INSIDE PRESIDENTIAL HOUSE PROTESTERS RUNNING ON TREADMILL INSIDE GYM PROTESTERS INSIDE GYM OF PRESIDENTIAL HOUSE PROTESTERS USING GYM EQUIPMENT PEOPLE WALKING IN ROOM INSIDE PRESIDENTIAL HOUSE / BROKEN BED FRAME, DAMAGED TV SET AND CABINETS
- Embargoed: 27th July 2022 05:11
- Keywords: President Gotabaya Rajapaksa Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe Sri Lanka crisis economy fuel political protests shortages
- Location: COLOMBO, PERADENIYA, TANGALLE, RAMBUKKANA, SRI LANKA / MALE, MALDIVES / SINGAPORE
- City: COLOMBO, PERADENIYA, TANGALLE, RAMBUKKANA, SRI LANKA / MALE, MALDIVES / SINGAPORE
- Country: Sri Lanka
- Topics: Asia / Pacific,Conflicts/War/Peace,Civil Unrest
- Reuters ID: LVA00H102311072022RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: A deepening economic crisis in Sri Lanka sparked mass protests that forced President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee the country, leaving his successor, Ranil Wickremesinghe, to declare a state of emergency while seeking a bailout from the International Monetary Fund.
On Friday (July 22), a day after Wickremesinghe was sworn in, security forces launched a pre-dawn raid on a protest camp occupying government grounds in Colombo and cleared out a section of it.
Here are some of the key developments in the crisis:
March 31, 2022: Demonstrators march to Rajapaksa's private residence to protest over worsening economic conditions.
April 3: Rajapaksa dissolves the cabinet, which includes his younger brother Basil Rajapaksa as finance minister, but elder brother Mahinda Rajapaksa continues as prime minister.
April 9: Protests escalate, with sit-in demonstrations outside Rajapaksa's office aimed at removing the president to pave the way for political reforms.
May 9: Following widespread clashes between pro- and anti-government protesters, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa resigns. Countrywide violence leaves nine dead and about 300 injured.
July 9: President Gotabaya Rajapaksa informs the parliamentary speaker that he plans to step down on July 13, after protesters storm into the official presidential residence. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, whose private residence was set on fire by protesters, says he is willing to resign too.
July 13: President Gotabaya Rajapaksa flees Sri Lanka, initially going to Maldives, before moving on to Singapore. Protesters, who see Wickremesinghe as an ally of the Rajapaksa clan, storm the prime minister's office, demanding his resignation.
July 14: Rajapaksa submits a letter of resignation hours after arriving in Singapore.
July 15: Parliament accepts Rajapaksa's resignation, Ranil Wickremesinghe sworn in as acting president.
July 18: Wickremesinghe declares state of emergency.
July 20: Wickremesinghe wins vote in parliament to become new president.
July 21: Wickremesinghe is sworn in as the island nation's new president until 2024.
July 22: Sri Lankan security forces raid a protest camp occupying government grounds in the main city of Colombo and cleared out a section of it, arresting nine people.
(Production: Jacinta Goh, Phyllis Xu) - Copyright Holder: ANI (India)
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