Sri Lanka’s new president wants to suppress demonstrations | Abroad

The new president, after being sworn in, threatened: “If you try to overthrow the government, the offices of the president and the prime minister, this is not democracy, but it is illegal.” We will take resolute action and in accordance with the law. We will not allow a minority of protesters to overwhelm the desires of the silent majority to change the political system.”

the current situation

Wickremesinghe makes it seem that the protesters want to maintain the status quo, but the opposite is true. In the protests, it is politicians like him who have to suffer because they are holding back change. The president and his predecessor Rajapaksa have been accused of thinking primarily of themselves, while ordinary Sri Lankans can barely keep their heads above water due to severe shortages of basic necessities such as food, fuel and medicine.

During the swearing-in, the new president did little to distance himself from his predecessor and his clique. On the contrary, Mahinda Rajapaksa, the eldest brother of the fugitive president and herself a former head of state and prime minister, was among the first to congratulate Wickremesinghe. In addition, there is a good chance that the president will appoint an old classmate as prime minister.

nepotism

One protester told Reuters news agency that such nepotism is exactly what has been protested in recent months: “We will not give up because what the country needs is a complete change of the system. We want to get rid of these corrupt politicians, and that is exactly what we will do.”