President Rajapaksa declared emergency in Sri Lanka amid violent demonstrations

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has declared a state of emergency in the country. In this way, security agencies will get unlimited powers to deal with dissent. This step has been taken after the massive demonstrations outside the President's residence on Thursday. Angry citizens were protesting on the issue of severe economic crisis in the country. According to local media, the emergency will come into force from 1 April 2022.

On the violent demonstration, President Rajapaksa said, I believe this was an incident of public emergency in Sri Lanka. For this it was necessary that such stringent laws should be implemented which would give wide powers to the security forces to arrest and detain suspects.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa promulgated sections of the Public Safety Ordinance, which empowers him to make rules for public safety, the protection of public order, the suppression of rebellion, riots or civil commotion, or the maintenance of essential supplies. Under emergency rules, the President can authorize detainees to take possession of any property and search any premises. He can also change or suspend any law.