Colombo is struggling to prevent a repeat of its spectacular economic collapse four years ago, as the prolonged Middle East conflict compounds the fallout from a deadly cyclone in November.
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has rationed fuel, raised its price by a third and increased electricity costs by up to 40% since the conflict began disrupting global energy supplies.
Panic buying fuel in Sri Lanka has brought back memories of 2022, when the economy tanked, with inflation hitting 70% after Colombo defaulted on its US$46bil (RM185.4bil) external debt.
The accompanying protests toppled the once-powerful president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
But the Frontline Socialist Party (FSP) that led the “Aragalaya”, or struggle, that ousted Rajapaksa has warned that Dissanayake’s administration may be facing an implosion.
“We believe that a response to this economic crisis will come politically,” said FSP politburo member Duminda Nagamuwa.
“Because of the strength of the (government’s) mandate, this economic shock is still being absorbed by the people without exploding politically,” he said.
Dissanayake’s leftist JVP won a two-thirds majority at the November 2024 parliamentary elections after his own victory two months earlier in the presidential poll.
A vendor at Colombo’s Pettah night market, Wasantha Jayalath, 55, said he voted for Dissanayake hoping for better times, but felt the situation was getting worse.
“We voted... thinking that a good, self-sufficient era would dawn for our country,” Jayalath said. “There is no such situation; instead, what we realise is that the country is going further into an abyss.”
Human rights lawyer Bhavani Fonseka said protests have been subdued because people are preoccupied with the day-to-day challenge of securing supplies.
Fuel rationing has shortened queues, but on Thursday, the government began limiting water supply hours to conserve reserves and save pumping costs.
“Compared to what we had in 2022... you’re not seeing that level of protest,” Fonseka said. “Sri Lanka was just coming out of another disaster – Cyclone Ditwah – and the government imposed a state of emergency to deal with that.”
Fonseka said the wide powers that emergency laws give the authorities to arrest and detain suspects could be used to stifle any popular protests, raising serious concerns for rights activists.
“We are in a situation where... laws that are in place, and the way they are being used, raise the question of whether rights could be further eroded in the coming weeks and months.” — AFP
