In Sri Lanka, Opposition Looks for New Leaders
2022-07-12
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1Sri Lanka's prime minister warned last month that the island nation's economy had collapsed.
2In recent days, the government itself collapsed as tens of thousands of protesters occupied the homes of its leaders.
3Angry over the country's economic problems, protesters took over President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's official homes.
4They demanded that the two leaders step down.
5The incident came after months of shortages of fuel, food, medicine and other necessities.
6President Rajapaksa has not been seen or heard from publicly since Saturday.
7His office said Sunday that he ordered the immediate release of cooking gas to the public.
8But the speaker of the parliament said Rajapaksa would step down on Wednesday.
9Prime Minister Wickremesinghe said Monday that he would stay on until a new government is in place because he wants to work within the constitution.
10The prime minister also noted that the crowd burned down his house and destroyed what he called a "treasure" of 2,500 books.
11Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena is the speaker of the South Asian nation's parliament.
12He said Monday that the lawmakers will meet on Friday to elect a new president.
13In a statement, he added, "The ruling party has said the prime minister and the Cabinet are ready to resign to appoint an all-party government."
14Opposition leaders have also discussed forming a different unity government.
15Sajith Premadasa is the leader of the main opposition party which holds 54 seats in the 225-member parliament.
16He said it was ready to step into the government.
17"We as the opposition are ready to provide leadership to stabilize the country and rebuild the economy," he said.
18"We will appoint a new president, prime minister and form a government."
19Dullas Alahapperuma, who was a minister under Rajapaksa, has also been involved in talks to form a new government.
20But the two opposition leaders have not agreed on a power-sharing deal.
21If the opposition fails to form a government by the time Rajapaksa resigns, Wickremesinghe as prime minister will become acting president under Sri Lanka's constitution.
22However, in line with the protesters' demand, opposition leaders do not want him to take over even as acting president.
23They called on Wickremesinghe to resign and permit the parliament speaker to be acting president.
24The position is the next in line based on the constitution.
25Economists say the crisis comes from years of poor leadership and corruption.
26They also say it comes from other troubles, such as growing debt,
27the effects of the pandemic and terror attacks that hurt the tourism industry.
28Sri Lankans have mainly blamed Rajapaksa for the collapse of the nation's economy.
29Rajapaksa appointed Wickremesinghe as prime minister in May in an effort to solve the shortages and start economic recovery.
30But delays in providing basic supplies have turned public anger against him with protesters accusing him of protecting the president.
31The World Food Program said that nearly nine out of 10 families in Sri Lanka are going without some meals or otherwise decreasing how much they eat.
32The government has been seeking help from the International Monetary Fund and neighboring India and China to pay for food and fuel.
33And the country has $51 billion in foreign debts that it cannot repay.
34The protests appear to bring an end to the nearly 20 years of rule by the Rajapaksa family.
35D.A. Rajapaksa was a lawmaker in the 1950s and 60s.
36His son, Mahinda Rajapaksa, served as prime minister and president from 2004 to 2015.
37Gotabaya Rajapaksa, a younger brother, became president in 2019.
38He brought Mahinda back as prime minister and appointed other family members to important government positions.
39Mahinda resigned in May after weeks of anti-government protests that turned violent.
40And Gotabaya is now on his way out.
41I'm Jonathan Evans.
1Sri Lanka's prime minister warned last month that the island nation's economy had collapsed. In recent days, the government itself collapsed as tens of thousands of protesters occupied the homes of its leaders. 2Angry over the country's economic problems, protesters took over President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's official homes. They demanded that the two leaders step down. The incident came after months of shortages of fuel, food, medicine and other necessities. 3President Rajapaksa has not been seen or heard from publicly since Saturday. His office said Sunday that he ordered the immediate release of cooking gas to the public. But the speaker of the parliament said Rajapaksa would step down on Wednesday. 4Prime Minister Wickremesinghe said Monday that he would stay on until a new government is in place because he wants to work within the constitution. The prime minister also noted that the crowd burned down his house and destroyed what he called a "treasure" of 2,500 books. 5Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena is the speaker of the South Asian nation's parliament. He said Monday that the lawmakers will meet on Friday to elect a new president. In a statement, he added, "The ruling party has said the prime minister and the Cabinet are ready to resign to appoint an all-party government." 6The opposition 7Opposition leaders have also discussed forming a different unity government. 8Sajith Premadasa is the leader of the main opposition party which holds 54 seats in the 225-member parliament. He said it was ready to step into the government. 9"We as the opposition are ready to provide leadership to stabilize the country and rebuild the economy," he said. "We will appoint a new president, prime minister and form a government." 10Dullas Alahapperuma, who was a minister under Rajapaksa, has also been involved in talks to form a new government. But the two opposition leaders have not agreed on a power-sharing deal. 11If the opposition fails to form a government by the time Rajapaksa resigns, Wickremesinghe as prime minister will become acting president under Sri Lanka's constitution. 12However, in line with the protesters' demand, opposition leaders do not want him to take over even as acting president. They called on Wickremesinghe to resign and permit the parliament speaker to be acting president. The position is the next in line based on the constitution. 13The economic crisis 14Economists say the crisis comes from years of poor leadership and corruption. They also say it comes from other troubles, such as growing debt, the effects of the pandemic and terror attacks that hurt the tourism industry. 15Sri Lankans have mainly blamed Rajapaksa for the collapse of the nation's economy. Rajapaksa appointed Wickremesinghe as prime minister in May in an effort to solve the shortages and start economic recovery. But delays in providing basic supplies have turned public anger against him with protesters accusing him of protecting the president. 16The World Food Program said that nearly nine out of 10 families in Sri Lanka are going without some meals or otherwise decreasing how much they eat. The government has been seeking help from the International Monetary Fund and neighboring India and China to pay for food and fuel. And the country has $51 billion in foreign debts that it cannot repay. 17The protests appear to bring an end to the nearly 20 years of rule by the Rajapaksa family. 18D.A. Rajapaksa was a lawmaker in the 1950s and 60s. His son, Mahinda Rajapaksa, served as prime minister and president from 2004 to 2015. 19Gotabaya Rajapaksa, a younger brother, became president in 2019. He brought Mahinda back as prime minister and appointed other family members to important government positions. Mahinda resigned in May after weeks of anti-government protests that turned violent. And Gotabaya is now on his way out. 20I'm Jonathan Evans. 21Hai Do adapted this story for VOA Learning English from Associated Press reports with additional material from Reuters. 22__________________________________________________________________ 23Words in This Story 24stabilize -v. to prevent things from getting worse 25___________________________________________________________________ 26What do you think of the situation in Sri Lanka? We want to hear from you. 27We have a new comment system. Here is how it works: 28Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them. Our comment policy is here.