The situation is foggy! Sri Lanka's president and prime minister have all said they are willing to resign, and the United States and India are already involved

Source: Global Times

【Global Times comprehensive report】The streets of Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka, basically restored calm on the 10th. The day before, months of discontent among the country's population had peaked, with large numbers of protesters taking to the streets and eventually storming the presidential residence, the presidential secretariat, the prime minister's palace and setting fire to the prime minister's private home. National bankruptcies, foreign exchange depletion, inflation, desperate shortages of fuel and medicines... Sri Lanka is experiencing its worst economic crisis since independence. On the 9th, the faceless Sri Lankan President Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Vikramasingha both expressed their willingness to resign. But there are many doubts about whether the country can emerge from political chaos and economic crisis. The idea that some countries and The Western media view the political turmoil in Sri Lanka as an opportunity for a "reshuffle" of geopolitical influence is particularly worrying. At present, it is not known where the situation in Sri Lanka will develop.

Walk into the "occupied" presidential residence

At noon on the 10th local time, a global times reporter came to the "occupied" Sri Lankan presidential residence and saw that the personnel in the official residence were rubbing shoulders, and a large number of people were "visiting and punching cards" here. People took photos everywhere, some lay on their bedroom beds, some worked out in the gym, some swam in the outdoor pool, played football on the lawn, and protesters and people imitated politicians in the main conference room. There are still a large number of military and police stationed outside the official residence, but Nilanta, a senior police officer on duty at the scene, told reporters that the public can freely enter the official residence, the police will not block, and the internal facilities of the official residence have been damaged to a certain extent, but it is relatively safe at present.

This is very different from the atmosphere of the previous day. On the 9th, a large number of protesters took to the streets of Colombo, holding up the national flag and slogans in their hands and chanting slogans calling for the president to step down. The New York Times reported that Police tried to disperse protesters with tear gas and high-pressure water guns, and at one point fired shots into the air. After that, more than 100,000 people gathered outside the presidential residence. CNN says the public is outrage at an unprecedented level. Protesters eventually broke through the cordon and rushed into the president's residence. "The economy has collapsed, and most people can't even afford three meals a day." Imasha Ranasingha, a 22-year-old university student, told Qatar's Al Jazeera that they were struggling to survive due to chronic fuel shortages and inflation that peaked at 54.6 percent in June.

Speaker Abevadna said in a televised statement on the evening of the 9th that Rajapaksa had informed him that he "decided to resign on July 13 to ensure a peaceful transfer of power". Earlier in the day, the Prime Minister's Office issued a statement saying that Vikramasingha was willing to resign in order to facilitate the formation of a new government with the participation of all parties.

The BBC reported on the 10th that after a full day of anger and violence, the news that the president and prime minister agreed to step down triggered cheers, and the fireworks of Colombo celebration continued. However, the protesters do not intend to stop there. "The struggle will not end until he (Rajapaksa) actually leaves." Protester VillaSekla told AFP. Rajapaksa boarded a naval vessel and a Defense Ministry source said he would arrive at the Trincomalee Naval Base in northeastern Srivija by the end of the 10th.

Who will replace Rajapaksa

"The chaos in this country – the streets and the politics – is far from over." The New York Times said it was unclear what Sri Lanka's next government would look like and what immediate steps would be taken to address the shortage of necessities. For most of the past 20 years, the Rajapaksa family has dominated Sri Lankan politics.

On the 10th, Damiga Pereira announced his resignation as Minister of Investment Promotion of Sri Lanka, the fourth cabinet minister to announce his resignation in the past two days. The opposition parties held a meeting on the formation of a new Government. According to the Times of India, according to the Sri Lankan Constitution, if both the President and the Prime Minister resign, the Speaker will act as President for up to 30 days. Agence France-Presse said the Speaker of the Slovak Parliament had promised to elect a new leader within a week, though it was unclear who would have enough support to succeed Rajapaksa. One lawmaker expressed concern: "We are moving toward dangerous uncertainty. ”

According to local media reports on the 10th, Rajapaksa ordered on the same day that the distribution of liquefied natural gas that had just arrived in the country began on Tuesday. The New York Times said the statement from President's office could not be confirmed. It is unclear whether Rajapaksa is still assessing the likelihood of his continued power.

Reuters believes the political chaos could complicate Sri Lanka's efforts to emerge from the economic crisis. Al Jazeera said political instability would undermine negotiations between Sri Lanka and the International Monetary Fund, which aims to secure $3 billion to bail out. Mukherjee, a policy fellow at the Center for Global Development in Washington, told The Associated Press that any aid from the IMF or the World Bank would come with strict conditions. However, given that Sri Lanka is guarding one of the world's busiest shipping lanes, it is not advisable to allow a country of such strategic importance to collapse.

Someone wants to take the opportunity to "shuffle" the influence of a big country?

"The turmoil in Sri Lanka has begun to reshape the geopolitical landscape of the region." The New York Times commented on the 10th. According to the BBC, the unprecedented economic crisis seems to provide a new opportunity for the influence of world powers to re-"shuffle" in Slovakia. In recent years, China has vigorously invested in Sri Lanka and has occupied some advantages. A few days ago, a delegation of senior US officials visited Sri Lanka and extensively contacted local political and economic circles to explore the possibility of resolving the current economic crisis and planning for the future. India, which has long regarded Sri Lanka as its "backyard", has provided $4 billion in loans, which can be said to be the country with the widest sales. Sriram Cholia, an expert at India's Jindal Global University, claims that India can use the crisis to "expel" Chinese influence here.

The spokesman of the US State Department quickly spoke out on the 9th, urging the current or new government of Sri Lanka to find a solution to achieve long-term economic stability, calm the people's dissatisfaction, and condemn the violence that stormed the official residence of President Sri Lanka. "Wait, watch." The Indian Express reported that Indian diplomats had been "closely monitoring" the situation and that their base was just a few kilometres from President Sri Lanka's official residence. A source said New Delhi was in close contact with all "stakeholders" in Sri Lanka. In such an "unstable situation", India does not want to take sides. For New Delhi, it is now important to see who is the main player emerging from the crisis.

Qian Feng, director of the research department of the National Institute of Strategic Studies of Tsinghua University, told the Global Times reporter on the 10th that China has no intention of engaging in geopolitical competition with any country in Sri Lanka. Any country that is genuinely concerned about Sri Lanka's development and stability should not hide its selfish intentions to add fuel to the fire of the situation, but should actually lend a helping hand to help Sri Lanka overcome the crisis.

[Global Times Special Correspondent in Sri Lanka Wang Yitong Global Times Reporter Cui Fandi Chen Xin Liu Yupeng]