Thousands take to the streets to call for the resignation of president Gotabaya Rajapaksa
Highlights
- Sri Lanka has descended into its worst financial crisis since independence.
- Food, fuel, medicine and electricity have become increasingly scarce.
- Calls for the president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa – frequently referred to as Gota – to step down.
- Young people furious at what they see as their own futures being set alight by divisions and incompetencies of the older generation.
- The protests have been described as ‘Sri Lanka’s Arab spring’ by many as “the way people from all communities are coming out on to the streets, I have never seen it before,” said Jehan Perera, executive director of the National Peace Council of Sri Lanka.