COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Gotabaya Rajapaksa has left the building, a cheerful Sri Lankan resident wrote on Twitter after the country’s president resigned in absentia Thursday. to resign, and his sudden departure ended the protests, left the government in the hands of an unpopular interim leader and most people deeply concerned about what comes next.
The signs of crisis are visual in the capital. Its streets are largely empty, except for the endless queues to refuel. Schools and offices remain closed. Power outages are difficult to understand at traffic lights. Runaway inflation (the rate of vegetables like onions and potatoes doubled in less than a year) means millions of people are in need of food assistance.
Over the past decade, Sri Lanka has become a tale of good fortune in South Asia. Then it collapsed temporarily. The fears and even depression of many men and women find an echo in the reports of 4 Sri Lankans who have spoken to the Washington Post in recent days. The talks have been changed for clarity and brevity.
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– Imthiyaz Abubakr, 58, tuk-tuk driver
For 25 years, Abubakr roamed the streets of Colombo in his tuk-tuk, a bright blue autorickshaw, running hard to build a space for his circle of relatives and teach his 3 children. He now spends his days waiting to buy gas. On Friday, it’s number 146 on a fuel station line more than a mile long.
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“Today is my fifth day in this row. I don’t know how many days it will take. There are more than 500 tuk-tuks in a row, three hundred motorcycles and around 400 cars, but since then no refueling has arrived at this fuel station. “. There’s no way out of the queue because I don’t have fuel. I have to wait.
“When it’s sweltering heat, I take out my back seat and sleep on the sidewalk. But mosquitoes make rest impossible. I never thought that at this age I would sleep on the sidewalks, away from my family. I pass to a nearby Mosque place to use the bathroom. Yesterday I asked the driving force in the queue to take care of my vehicle so I could get past home for one night. I needed a shower.
“How can he not be angry? We weren’t rich [before Sri Lanka’s economic crisis], but life was comfortable and quiet. I worked hard and earned enough to provide 3 complete meals to my family. We ate chicken Now all we can take care of is rice and coconut sambol [a local seasoning made from chili, onion and grated coconut]. .
“The last few years have been difficult. First covid, then Gota and his circle of relatives robbed the country. That’s why there is no more money.
“I don’t know what else to do, I have to take care of my children. If I were presented with a job abroad, I would leave. I never looked to leave, but there is no point in living here anymore.
“I hope for everything. “
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– Sanjana Mudalige, 39, former saleswoman
A single woman living alone, Mudalige enjoyed her task at one of Colombo’s largest grocery shopping malls: helping other people buy clothes. food court. Those meals are just memories today.
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I pawned my first piece of jewelry, a gold bracelet, when costs began to rise in January. I didn’t know things were going to happen so fast. saving little by little over the years. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to get them back.
“In May, my salary was cut in half. The commissions he earned from sales had collapsed because there were no tourists. As transportation has become expensive [due to emerging fuel prices], I eventually quit my job because I was paid more than my salary. .
“Every facet of life has been affected. Cooking fuel is scarce. When I couldn’t find fuel for days, I started using firewood and kerosene. It is very tedious to pick up wood from the outside and cut it into pieces. There is a lot of smoke and it makes me cough. Now even kerosene is in short supply. I have part of a bottle left.
“Like a quarter of what I ate. For now, I only have part of a bowl of boiled rice, some tea, and a packet of cookies. I move on to demonstrations to get something to eat. The crisis forced me into a beggar.
“No one has asked me in those days how I am. You are the first. I pray to Lord Buddha to send me a savior. I gave my passport to an employment company to look for a task abroad.
“Rajapaksa’s circle of relatives is guilty of this. They didn’t care about people. I went to the houses of the president and the prime minister, and I was amazed at how wonderful they were. Did you ever think about inequality when you lived in such luxury?
“Gotabaya would have left without the uprising. We need a new face. But there doesn’t seem to be an alternative. All political parties have the same ideas.
“I cry to sleep the maximum nights. The difference between my life and today is like the distance between heaven and earth.
– Manodya Jayarathne, 23, protester
A software engineering student, Jayarathne first pushed for Rajapaksa’s expulsion in his hometown of Kurunegala. He left for the capital this spring and began running a radio station for the “Gota Go Home” movement, settling in a tent amid a sprawling protest site in front of the presidential office.
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“Last year in August, when I saw a massive queue to buy cooking fuel in my hometown, I told my father that if other people took to the streets to protest, I would join them.
“It happened in April. I climbed into the most sensible part of a clock tower and told the meeting why we had to protest. I was handed over to the organization. We gained a lot of pressure from the local police to shut it down and were threatened with legal action. I told them they were other people who were organizing.
“My mom was scared and asked me to take a step back. The turning point for me was a meeting with an old lady. She had come to a catering camp we had set up. She asked, “Aren’t you going to chase those other people away?Shoot those other people. That’s when I come to Colombo.
“We set up the radio channel to talk directly to people. We called for a demonstration on July 9, to mark two months [since an attack on protesters through Rajapaksa supporters]. We didn’t expect the crowd it turned out to be. There is practically no area to move around.
“I was doing a Facebook Live near the presidential workplace when police threw tear fuel into the crowd. There were no plans to tear down a building; police action galvanized the public.
“We temporarily accommodated ourselves in all the buildings. We gave tours to the public, cleaned things, closed the rooms to prevent looting and vandalism. In the president’s house, a shelf, we discovered a hidden staircase leading to a bunker. All bathrooms had air conditioning. I’ve only noticed those things in the movies. One day I slept in the master bedroom.
“I am shocked by the crisis, like everyone else. I can’t do my life the way I’d like. My mother, a government nurse, saw her salary go down and my father left his job as a jeweler because no one has money. .
“I know the scenario won’t be immediate. We have made adjustments and will continue to act as a tense organization that opposes policies that are destructive to the poor. I will stay to rebuild the country.
– Harini Amarasuriya, 52, MP
Amarasuriya is one of the few women in male-dominated politics in Sri Lanka, a former educator who in 2020 appointed parliament through a coalition of left-wing parties. He embarked on organizing public meetings to open the discussion on the way forward. For the country.
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“I heard so many stories from other hungry people. As a Member of Parliament, you are supposed to have power, but in particular, I have not been able to do much. I can mobilize some things, but it’s a drop in the ocean when you think about how many other people want help.
“I had transportation disorders. I had disorders with cooking gas. I have an 83-year-old mom who recently fell. What to do in case of emergency? It’s very stressful. But I still eat 3 foods a day. My [disorders] are surely benign compared to what many others have to go through.
“I joined politics because I am in the broader struggle for social justice. I am convinced that the country can be repaired. What is needed is an organization of other people who put the country first.
“Me [at the demonstration] on the ninth of July with colleagues. As a group, we made the selection to be there.
“When the protesters stormed the presidential house, I was like ‘wow. ‘At that time, he belonged to the people. Something moved me when I saw the video of a scruffy guy on the treadmill and the photo of an older girl sitting in a giant chair smiling from ear to ear.
“Politics in Sri Lanka is so far from the lives of citizens. Rajapaksa policy involved corruption, the facilitation of an oligarchy composed of senior army officers, corporations, media, politicians and devout leaders. There was an organization that extracted wealth from the country and held power.
“The consequences have been massive inequalities, rural poverty, a very precarious economic scheme and the whole collapse of the social coverage sectors.
“There is no easy way out. Parliament no longer has a mandate. We want a new election.
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