COLOMBO —
Sri Lanka’s besieged presidential office will
reopen on Monday, police said, days after anti-government demonstrators were
flushed out in a military crackdown that triggered international condemnation.
اضافة اعلان
Widespread
public anger over the island’s unprecedented economic crisis saw protesters
storm and occupy the colonial-era building earlier this month.
Soldiers were
forced to rescue then-president
Gotabaya Rajapaksa from his nearby residence on
the same day, with the leader fleeing to Singapore and resigning days later.
Troops armed
with batons and automatic weapons cleared the 92-year-old presidential
secretariat in a pre-dawn raid Friday on the orders of Rajapaksa’s successor,
Ranil Wickremesinghe.
At least 48
people were wounded and nine arrested in the operation, during which security
forces tore down tents set up by protesters outside the complex since April.
“The office is
ready for reopening from Monday,” said a police official Sunday, who declined
to be named as he was not authorized to speak to the media.
“The siege of
the secretariat, which lasted since May 9, has now been lifted.”
Police said
forensic experts had been called in to check damage to the Presidential
Secretariat and gather evidence.
Western
governments, the UN and human rights groups have condemned Wickremesinghe for
using violence against unarmed protesters who had announced their intention to
vacate the site later on Friday.
Wickremesinghe
defended the crackdown and said he had told Colombo-based diplomats on Friday
that blocking government buildings was unacceptable.
Police spokesman
Nihal Talduwa said protesters were free to continue their demonstrations at a
designated site near the presidential office.
The military
operation to clear the secretariat building and its immediate surroundings came
less than 24 hours after Wickremesinghe was sworn in and just before a new
cabinet was appointed.
Sri Lanka’s 22
million people have also endured months of lengthy blackouts, record inflation
and shortages of food, fuel, and petrol.
Its government
is officially bankrupt, having defaulted on its $51 billion foreign debt, and
is currently in bailout talks with the International Monetary Fund.
The economic
crisis which fueled the protest campaign shows no sign of easing, but the
government announced Sunday it would reopen schools which had remained shut for
the better part of a month. The education ministry said students and teachers
will be asked to return to school only for three days each week as transport is
still hampered by a national fuel shortage.
New president
Wickremesinghe has said he will unveil a fresh budget for the rest of the year
in August as previous revenue and expenditure estimates were unrealistic.
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