Sri Lanka's President announces state of emergency amid economic crisis

Colombo : Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has declared state of emergency in the nation that comes to effect from April 1 onwards.

The announcement comes at a time when Sri Lanka is dealing with its worst economic crisis, resulting in growing dissatisfaction among the residents of the nation.

Protests were seen outside the Parliament, after which the police had imposed overnight curfew in parts of Colombo on Friday.

Can state of emergency be challenged in the court? 

According to Article 155 of the Sri Lankan Constitution, the President has a right to announce the state of emergency by way of Proclamation and the same cannot be challenged in the court. However, the proclamation issued is valid for one month and the Parliament must approve it within 14 days.

Current situation in Sri Lanka

As the economic situation in Sri Lanka is worsening with every passing day, people are losing their patience and also faith in the government. With this people have started staging protests at different locations.

Meanwhile, the government has started taking cautions to lower the expenses. On Thursday, the street lights were kept off to save electricity. Power cuts of up to 13 hours in a day are being observed in the nation as the government does not have enough funds to import fuel to generate power.

Retail inflation in Sri Lanka is currently at 18.7%, food inflation is at 30.2%. 

(Image: Pixabay)

Help Sri Lanka

India has a policy of neighbours first, and with that the tri-colour nation has given a credit line to Sri Lanka. $500 million is expected to reach Sri Lanka on Saturday. But, it appears like much more need to be done to bring Sri Lanka back on track.