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Protests in Colombo: The police in Sri Lanka are cracking down on protesters
Photo: ISHARA S. KODIKARA / AFP
Sri Lanka's President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is under massive pressure because of the economic crisis in his country.
In response to ongoing protests, the head of state has now declared a nationwide state of emergency by decree.
As the AP news agency reports, the announcement was made at the same time as a demonstration near Parliament.
The entrance to the President's office is said to have been blocked by protesters.
The island nation is on the verge of bankruptcy.
The worst economic crisis in decades has led to violent protests for weeks.
One of the main demands of the demonstrators is the resignation of President Rajapaksa.
However, he refuses.
Nationwide strike brings public life to a standstill
A nationwide strike on Friday largely brought public life in Sri Lanka to a standstill.
The unions had called for a walkout, and millions of workers followed the appeal.
The strikers have again called for the resignation of the government they blame for the severe economic crisis in the country.
In the capital Colombo, police again used tear gas against students who tried to storm the parliament.
Buses and trains in Sri Lanka stood still, offices were deserted.
Workers protested outside their factories, and black flags were raised across the country in anger against the government.
Thousands of students have been waiting on the access road to the parliament in Colombo since Thursday.
Police used tear gas and water cannons to stop the crowd from storming the Parliament building.
The demonstrators were pushed back but quickly regrouped in front of the police cordon.
The 22 million inhabitants of the South Asian island state suffer from a shortage of food, fuel and medicine, from power cuts and immense inflation.
In mid-April, Sri Lanka declared itself insolvent for its debts abroad and stopped paying interest and repayments for the time being.
A major trigger for the crisis was the slump in international tourism as a result of the corona pandemic.
asc/Reuters/AP/AFP