In Sri Lanka, Opposition Looks for New Leaders

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In Sri Lanka, Opposition¹ Looks for New Leaders

Sri Lanka's prime minister warned last month that the island nation's economy had collapsed³. In recent days, the government itself collapsed as tens of thousands of protesters occupied the homes of its leaders.

Angry 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.

President Rajapaksa has not been seen or heard from publicly since Saturday. His office said Sunday that he ordered the immediate⁴ release of cooking gas to the public. But the speaker of the parliament said Rajapaksa would step down on Wednesday.

Prime 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 noted⁵ that the crowd burned down his house and destroyed what he called a "treasure" of 2,500 books.

Mahinda 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."

The opposition

Opposition leaders have also discussed forming a different unity⁶ government.

Sajith 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.

"We as the opposition are ready to provide leadership to stabilize⁷ the country and rebuild the economy," he said. "We will appoint a new president, prime minister and form a government."

Dullas 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.

If the opposition fails to form a government by the time Rajapaksa resigns, Wickremesinghe as prime minister will become acting⁸ president under Sri Lanka's constitution.

However, 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.

The economic crisis

Economists⁹ say the crisis comes from years of poor leadership and corruption¹⁰. 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.

Sri Lankans have mainly blamed Rajapaksa for the collapse² 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.

The 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 Monetary¹¹ 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.

The protests appear to bring an end to the nearly 20 years of rule by the Rajapaksa family.

D.A. Rajapaksa was a lawmaker in the 1950s and 60s. His son, Mahinda Rajapaksa, served as prime minister and president from 2004 to 2015.

Gotabaya 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.

Words in This Story

stabilize –v. to prevent things from getting worse

1 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

2 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

3 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

4 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

5 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

6 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

7 stabilize   

vt.（使）稳定，使稳固，使稳定平衡；vi.稳定

参考例句：

• They are eager to stabilize currencies.他们急于稳定货币。
• His blood pressure tended to stabilize.他的血压趋向稳定。

8 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

9 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

11 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。