Umamah Bakharia 

Last week, Sri Lankan protestors were seen storming the presidential palace in their masses, demanding that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa resign as he failed to handle the country’s economic crisis.

Videos and images circulated on social media show protestors ransacking the president’s residence where millions were found while some jumped into the swimming pool.

In a discussion with analyst Ebrahim Deen on this week’s ‘Media Lens’ report on Radio Islam, Deen says there might be a resignation after the president managed to flee the country on a military aeroplane to the Maldives.

“Sri Lanka since the coronavirus has lost a big chunk of its income, its foreign reserves and to deal with the foreign reserves issue then banned the import of fertiliser [which is a big part of Sri Lanka’s income],” says Deen. Due to this, the country’s production dropped by 50%, increasing inflation rates and food and fuel shortages.

“Politically also there has been an aspect of the Rajapaksa’s have been in charge since 2005,” says Deen. He adds that over time this became ‘nationalism’ that has weakened the support of the regime and the country’s economic issues.

“Partially the coronavirus, their own faults, there has also been tax reductions which have worsened the situation and that has actually meant that there has been this pressure since March this year,” says Deen.

Going ahead, according to Deen, there is no politician in Sri Lanka that has a popular mandate to stand for president as Sri Lanka needs to establish a corporative political system that will incorporate economies.