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In mid-April, thousands again demonstrated in Sri Lanka's capital, Colombo, against government mismanagement amid a financial crisis
Photo: Jewel Samad/AFP
SPIEGEL
: Mr. Saravanamuttu, people have been taking to the streets in Colombo and other cities in Sri Lanka for weeks.
They demonstrate, there are clashes with the security forces.
What makes people angry?
Saravanamuttu:
You experience
the current situation in the country like a punch in the stomach.
We are dealing with the worst economic crisis in decades - since Sri Lanka's independence: There is hardly any petrol, hardly any medicine.
Food is running out.
People are seething with anger, they are so disappointed in the government, they accuse the President of enormous mismanagement.
SPIEGEL
: What is the everyday life of women and men like at the moment?
Saravanamuttu:
Everyday life at the moment means standing in line.
We're standing in line for everything right now, five, six, seven hours a day.
A big problem is getting gas to cook.
Or gasoline for the cars.
Almost nobody eats three meals a day, it's more like two, some only eat once.
If you get sick, you won't get any medication in the hospital.
It goes on like this, I could continue this series forever.
Everything that is urgently needed to live is virtually no longer available.
SPIEGEL
: Why is the economic crisis breaking through now?
Saravanamuttu:
External crises have fueled the situation: Sri Lanka's borders were closed for at least a year - during the pandemic.
As a result, the tourism industry, which normally gives jobs to many people, has suffered enormously.
The war in Ukraine also aggravated the situation because prices continued to rise.
But neither the corona crisis nor the war sparked the misery.
It is the government that put us in this situation.
We spent far more money than we earned.
As President Rajapaksa
When he came into office in 2019, he reduced taxes.
This has mainly served the rich in the country;
There was a big hole in the state treasury, and as a result, 500 to 600 million US dollars were quickly missing.
Then, overnight, the president decided that farmers could only use organic fertilizers.
This triggered problems on another level: crops were no longer productive, food prices rose because staple foods became scarce.
Sir Lanka has continued to print money to keep buying essential goods instead of turning to the International Monetary Fund in time.
SPIEGEL
: President Rajapaksa took office in 2019 after the devastating attacks on churches and luxury hotels on Easter Sunday;
At that time, more than 300 people were killed in suicide bombings.
Rajapaksa promised stability.
Now he is being accused of suppressing political opposition and undermining democratic control systems.
Saravanamuttu:
The people on the street say: We won't be quiet until the president and his political clique are gone.
They're angry, very, very angry.
None of the promises have been kept.
The Rajapaksa family, according to allegations, is embroiled in corruption scandals that go back years.
It's about misappropriated funds that are said to have been taken out of the country, to Uganda, to the Seychelles and so on.
The people now holding up placards in the streets are demanding: Bring the funds back to Sri Lanka.
Give them to the people.
Then there is the coming to terms with crimes against humanity and war crimes during Sri Lanka's long civil war.
It ended in 2009, and the Rajapaksa family is also under pressure here.
The current President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa are not just brothers - they bloodily ended the civil war as victors.
They are accused of delaying the investigation and of having stopped court proceedings.
The Rajapaksa family knows that if they leave the political stage, they will have to answer for the civil war and corruption.
That is why she will cling to her power.
SPIEGEL
: What will it take for Sri Lanka to recover from the current crisis?
Saravanamuttu:
We must reform the structure of the economy in the country.
It will take about three to six years before we can talk about a kind of normality again.
We must cut public spending, raise taxes.
We must ensure that aid funds reach the poorest of the poor, because they are hit hardest by this crisis.
SPIEGEL
: Six years can be a very long time for these people.
Saravanamuttu:
I don't see any other possibility.
In the end, such an upheaval can also be an opportunity to finally put Sri Lanka's economy on a better footing in the long term.
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