Sri Lanka Turmoil : Embattled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa Revokes State Of Emergency Order

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Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa late Tuesday night revoked the state of emergency he had declared on April 1 with immediate effect in his island nation.

In a gazette notification no 2274/10 issued on Tuesday night, the president said he has withdrawn the emergency rule ordinance which gave security forces sweeping powers to curb any disturbance in the country.

President Rajapaksa has declared a public emergency on April 1 amid a spate of protests over the worst economic crisis in the country.

The emergency was imposed because of the mass scale protests planned for April 3 against the current economic hardships faced by the people.

Later, the government imposed an island-wide curfew. Protests continued despite curfew and the state of emergency with senior ruling party figures having their homes surrounded by angry protesters who urged the government for solutions to the economic crisis.

A foreign exchange crunch in Sri Lanka has led to a shortage of essential goods such as fuel and cooking gas. Power cuts that last up to 13 hours a day.

The revocation of the gazette assumes significance as the ruling coalition appeared to have lost its majority in the 225 member Parliament with over 40 MPs declaring independence from the ruling coalition.

The emergency approval needs to be ratified in the assembly after 2 weeks of it coming into effect.