Cricketer Dhammika Prasad has commenced a 24 hour satyagraha today (15) at the Galle Face Protest Center.
It has been three years since the Easter attack, and he has started a satyagraha demanding justice for the situation and the current situation in the country.
He emphasizes that the people are in a very miserable situation and justice should be done to them.
He also states that this was due to the fact that he too wants to support the ongoing struggle of the youth community at the Galle Face Green.
Over the past few years, the US has accused China of using “debt diplomacy” to make developing nations across the world more dependent on Beijing.
Yet the cases of Sri Lanka and Pakistan — both friends of China facing dire financial situations as inflation soars — show that President Xi Jinping’s government is becoming more reluctant to pull out the checkbook. China still hasn’t made good on a pledge to re-issue loans totalling $4 billion that Pakistan repaid in late March, and it hasn’t responded to Sri Lanka’s pleas for $2.5 billion in credit support.
While China has pledged to help both countries, the more cautious approach reflects both a refining of Xi’s signature Belt and Road Initiative as well as a hesitancy to be seen interfering in messy domestic political situations. Pakistan got a new prime minister on Monday after parliament booted out former cricket star Imran Khan, and Sri Lanka’s leader is facing pressure from protesters to step down.
“Beijing has for the past couple of years been rethinking its external lending because their banks realised they were carrying a lot of debt with countries whose prospects of paying back were quite limited,” said Raffaello Pantucci, a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University. “This came on top of a tightening economic situation at home which also required a lot of spending, so there was less appetite to just throw money around wantonly.”
China is currently facing its own economic troubles, with lockdowns to contain the country’s worst Covid outbreak since early 2020 shutting down the technology and financial hubs of Shanghai and Shenzhen. Premier Li Keqiang on Monday told local authorities they should “add a sense of urgency” when implementing policies as analysts warn the official growth target of a 5.5% is now in jeopardy.
China has become the world’s largest government creditor over the past decade, with its state-owned policy banks lending more to developing countries than the International Monetary Fund or the World Bank in some recent years. The opacity around the terms and scale of some of that lending has been criticised, especially as the pandemic exacerbates debt problems in poorer countries.
Sri Lanka’s top diplomat in Beijing this week said he was “very confident” that China will come through with credit support, including $1 billion for the country to repay existing Chinese loans due in July. In an interview with Bloomberg, Ambassador Palitha Kohona said the process often takes months and he didn’t see any delay.
“Given the current circumstances, there aren’t that many countries that can step out to the pitch and do something,” he said. “China is one of those countries that can do something very quickly.”
It is reported that a meeting between the UNP leader, former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and the World Bank representative in Sri Lanka was held on the 10th.
It is said that the current economic situation of the country as well as the public protests in the country were discussed at length.
It is noteworthy that Ranil Wickremesinghe had met the World Bank representative before holding discussions with government officials.
A public protest was held yesterday (14) near the house of Sri Lanka Freedom Party MP Shantha Bandara who was sworn in as the new Minister of State for Agriculture.
Residents of the area near his house in the Maharajamulla area in Alawwa protested against him and it was seen that the house was heavily guarded by the police.
Sources say that for the first time in history, Sri Lanka’s decision to default on a foreign loan on the 12th was taken with the approval of the Cabinet and without any cabinet paper or cabinet discussion.
On the morning of April 12, Finance Minister Mohamed Ali Sabri, Governor of the Central Bank Nandalal Weerasinghe and Secretary to the Ministry of Finance Mahinda Siriwardena had a discussion at the Ministry of Finance. Sources from the Ministry of Finance stated that the three of them had decided to suspend the repayment of foreign loans from that evening.
The decision taken by the three was immediately communicated to the world and implemented.
According to Finance Ministry sources, they have not sought the approval of the country’s executive cabinet or a cabinet paper or a cabinet meeting or at least not even the Prime Minister of the country to take such a drastic decision affecting the entire 22 million people of the country.
If such a crucial decision is taken, which will have a huge and long-term impact on the country, it must be approved by the Cabinet. Furthermore, since Parliament sets aside all money to pay off debts at the beginning of the year if the government decides to default on any debt, it must seek the approval of Parliament. But Ali Sabbari, Nandalal Weerasinghe, and Mahinda Siriwardena have taken this crucial decision regarding the future of the country, the lives and deaths of the people, and the children born tomorrow, without taking any of the above-mentioned steps and ignoring all of that.
What happens next through the Sri Lankan government’s debt default process?
In the future, no letter of credit will be able to be opened by any Sri Lankan bank
Sri Lanka will be ranked last in the international credit rating as a defaulting country.
All Sri Lankan banks will be advised to repay all loans extended by foreign banks as soon as possible.
The value of the rupee will not be able to maintain or control
The Monetary Board will have to immediately increase the historic interest rate hike of 7% on April 8, 2022 by another 12%.
With such a sharp rise in exchange rates and the inability of businesses and individuals to carry out all imports, almost all businesses in the country are at risk of collapsing.
In such a situation people automatically fall suffer
The risk of starting to lose a lot of jobs in a few weeks
In three or four weeks there will be no imported goods in all the supermarkets
Shortage of fuel, gas, pharmaceuticals, coal and other essential commodities will worsen
According to the Constitution of Sri Lanka, the sovereign power belongs to the people. The people elect a group of people’s representatives to represent them and send them to parliament, which has the full power to make decisions about the country’s finances. So how could the Minister of Finance, the Governor of the Central Bank, and the Secretary to the Ministry of Finance alone take such a drastic decision despite all that?
Even Finance Minister Mohamed Ali Sabri was not directly elected by the people but came to Parliament from the national list. The other two are officials who are not representatives of the people at all. Would representative democracy in the country be a joke if these three could make a decision to default on the country that would severely affect even unborn children?
At the same time, according to economic sources, the decision of these three will lead to further damage to the country. We look forward to presenting an analysis on this at the economic and technical level in the future as well.
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Media reports claim that veteran Actor and Comedian Bandu Samarasinghe has been nominated for the post of Sri Lankan Consular for Milan, Italy.
Veteran Singer Neela Wickramasinghe was previously appointed as the Sri Lankan Consular in the Italian city, but she passed away days after her appointment.
Following news on Samarasinghe being nominated for the post, Sri Lankans living in Italy have begun to demonstrate strong objection.
Commenting on the reports, Foreign Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris told media that no final decision has been taken on the post of Consular but confirmed that the Comedian’s name has been nominated.
The anti-government protests overflowing the Galleface Ground continues for the sixth consecutive night on the Sinhala and Tamil New Year today (14).
It is quite significant to notice that a large number of people are endorsing the protest despite fuel shortages and many other difficulties in public transport.
The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Pradeshiya Sabha Member accused of assaulting a group of students of the University of Kelaniya who were staging a peaceful demonstration against the government in Kiribathgoda city yesterday (13) has been remanded.
Duminda Perera, the suspect, has been remanded till April 22, lawyers told media.
The problem of fuel shortage has still not been addressed and fuel queues were seen in a number of places today (14) as well. Many fuel stations reportedly did not have enough fuel and limited the amount of fuel dispensed per customer.
