07/09/2022 Sri Lanka (International Christian Concern) – Amidst a chaotic week in Sri Lanka, the country’s President, Gotabaya Rajapaksa has finally agreed to resign. The South Asian nation is in economic crisis, and outrage over the government’s handling of the situation reached a fever pitch this weekend. Thousands of protestors in the capital stormed President Rajapaksa’s private residence. The government has imposed an indefinite curfew and has deployed nearly 20,000 troops and police officers, but the frenzy continues. Protestors and activists, including Christian leaders, have been demanding the president’s resignation for months, and Sri Lankan parliamentary leaders, who met this weekend, decided to request his resignation as well. In a televised statement today, the speaker of Sri Lanka’s parliament announced that President Rajapaksa, upon their request, finally agreed to step down on Wednesday, July 13.
The president’s resignation is a win for Christian leaders who have worked hard to pursue positive change in Sri Lanka this year. The prominent Christian leader Cardinal Malcom Ranjith, Archbishop of Colombo, reasserted this week, “There will be investigations in the future into the disappearance of the national gold reserves: people have a right to know how they have squandered the country’s wealth.” Due to what many assess as chronic mismanagement by the current governing regime, the Sri Lankan rupee has lost roughly 82% of its value in the last year, and debt has driven the country to default. While leaders in government have been seeking help from India, China, and the International Monetary Fund, the poorest have suffered the most. Shortages in fuel and basic necessities are prolific throughout the country. We pray that President Rajapaksa’s popularly demanded resignation will open the door to better governance in Sri Lanka and would begin the nation’s process of economic recovery.
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