After Over-throwing President, Sri Lanka’s Crisis is still the same, only Without Anyone to Lead It

By: Max Cao

Just a few weeks ago, angry protesters stormed the Sri Lanka presidential palace, demanding the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Even though most protesters have left the palace, the country demands reforms and general elections.

Sri Lanka was already a rather poor, with an average salary hovering at around 253 USD per month. Now, the country has failed to pay a foreign debt of $51 billion, leaving the country bankrupt.

There doesn’t seem to be hope for more funds any time soon. One of Sri Lanka only major ways of earning money, the tourism sector, is crushed. In 2019, three churches and three luxury hotels in the capital were targeted in a series of suicide bombings. That same day, a housing complex and a guest house were blown up. After this disaster, the two following years were Covid-filled. By the time 2022 came around, the revenue in 2018 of $4.38 billion had dropped to $500 million.

Not only is Sri Lanka running low on money, the leaderless country is running out of gas. Mile long lines are forming in front of the few gas stations that can just barely be kept open by the little fuel they have.

Even worse, the country has been hit particularly hard by the international food crisis caused by the Russian Ukrainian war. The cost of food had been multiplied almost 8 times over the span of less than a year. This forced millions of people to cut back on the amount of food they consumed.

The current Sri Lankan summarization is not so appealing: half-starved people trying desperately to earn back $51 billion with their major money producer basically useless, and have to go through all that while spending half of your day waiting in line to get your car refilled. Without a proper leader willing to take up the daunting challenge of mending this broken country, the future of Sri Lanka is unknown.

Links:

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/in-10-points-how-unprecedented-economic-crisis-pushed-sri-lankans-over-the-edge/articleshow/92764419.cms

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Sri_Lanka_Easter_bombings

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/23/sri-lanka-economic-political-crisis/