Following violence targeting the Rajapaksa family for their role in the country’s worst economic crisis, Sri Lanka has shifted Mahinda Rajapaksa to a naval facility for his safety, the defence secretary announced on Wednesday.
Sri Lankans blame the Rajapaksa family for the country’s financial catastrophe, which decreased reserves to just over $50 million, halting most imports and causing massive shortages of food, fuel, and medication, sparking protests.
‘The prime minister was evacuated to the Trincomalee naval base for security concerns,’ Kamal Gunaratne said at a press briefing.
‘He will remain there for the next few days, and then he can be moved to a location of his choice after the situation has stabilised.’
The action comes after demonstrators set fire to a museum dedicated to their father in the family’s ancestral base in the south last week, leaving it in ruins with exhibits broken or looted.
The streets of Weerakettiya, the Rajapaksas’ hometown, were monitored by police and troops, while stores and businesses were closed by a curfew that will last until Thursday morning.
Despite street clashes last week, which were sparked by massive shortages of essentials and killed nine people, Rajapaksa’s younger brother remains president.
Soldiers in armoured vehicles patrolled the streets of Colombo, the commercial city, with the army deployed to protect the peace and troops commanded to shoot at anyone harming public property or threatening life.
On Twitter, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said, ‘This is the moment for all Sri Lankans to join hands as one to face the economic, social, and political problems.’
‘I implore all Sri Lankans to reject insidious efforts to divide you along racial and religious lines. It is critical to promote moderation, tolerance, and cohabitation.’
His warning was not immediately obvious, but Sri Lanka has a long and brutal history of ethnic strife, with Sinhalese Buddhists accounting for the majority of the population of 22 million, with Muslim, Hindu, and Christian minority.
When a 26-year civil war ended in 2009, after security forces defeated rebels from the minority Tamil community, the two Rajapaksas occupied significant government roles. Until recently, at least five members of the family held ministerial roles.
Analysts believe the president might be impeached if he refuses to resign, despite the fact that the opposition, which has rejected his proposals for a unity government, lacks the two-thirds majority required in parliament.
In Sri Lanka, no president has ever been successfully impeached and removed from office.
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