Sri Lanka to see another mass protest: Opposition

Colombo: Sri Lanka will soon witness another mass protest the like of which forced then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee the country because the government is not resolving the serious economic crisis, an opposition leader said in remarks published on Monday.
Janatha Vimukti Peramuna (JVP) leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake was also quoted as saying in The Island newspaper that President Ranil Wickremesinghe had created security zones because he had no popular mandate to rule the island nation.
“Already more than 100,000 people have lost jobs. Businesses have collapsed. Police and public service workers are in debt and starving,” he said. “Public servants complain they cannot pay loan instalments. Another popular uprising is only a matter of time.”
The JVP is Sri Lanka’s biggest leftist party and has twice in the past led urban insurrections to capture power which left tens of thousands dead. It now says that it is wedded to democracy.
Dissanayake made fun of Wickremesinghe, the new President who succeeded Rajapaksa.
“Wickremesinghe too has no mandate from the people. He was elected the President by 134 MPs who have also lost their mandate. Now, the people have rejected him and are taking to the streets against him,” he said.
Condemning Saturday’s police attack on the Socialist Youth Union’s protest march in Colombo, the JVP leader said the police had taken into custody 84 youths for agitating against the regime.
The (government) should realise that it cannot rule this country forever by hiding behind barricades and high security zones… He (Wickremesinghe) cannot prevent people’s uprising by drawing lines on maps and declaring high security zones.”(UNI)