National strike in Sri Lanka to demand government step down

Unable to pay for fuel imports, utilities have imposed daily blackouts to ration electricity

Shameful that millions have to suffer because their leaders made the country so dependent on burning fossil fuels, and the leadership did mot invest in alternative ways to generate electricity.

The sooner the nations of the world find more and better ways to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, the better. And the sooner we do the sooner we can breathe cleaner air. The world has been controlled by the fossil establishment for too long.

organized by the country's trade union movement 

Nice to see unions and workers getting actively involved. If China takes over Sri Lanka, workers will have even less voice, probably no voice in how their country is governed. More power to workers, in Sri Lanka and everywhere else.

Ptownsend

Let me guess that you have never been in SriLanka...?

Rajapaksa will not resign. Strongmen like him do not resign.

Probably he will keep on asking India for help and India will keep on providing lines of credit to keep out China. He is an expert at playing off India against China.

@Eastman, yes I was there as a tourist during the war years, maybe 2002. Lots of sunshine, so solar power to generate electricity should be possible.

I came away thinking it was such a physically beautiful place, but also a very poor country. Locals explained from their perspective it was highly corrupt. Anti-westerners has as Chinese,Japanese or Indian investment there helped the average Sri Lankan worker, or have the Sri Lankan elite there been the ones who've gained the most, along with the elite back in China, Japan and India?

The Rajapaksa dynasty and its corrupt government have completely lost the support of the electorate, they should resign en mass but as EvilBuddha said above such people hang on to power (and the corrupt money they can squeeze out of it) like the parasites they are.

Sadly SriLanka is in grave danger of becoming a Chinese serf state entangled in debt beyond their capacity to pay.

Get your down votes ready.

The root of the problems is ideological delusion. Rajapaksa banned the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides after promising to force organic farming on the nation. The resulting plunge in rice production forced a huge run up in rice prices and forced the country to start importing rice. At the same time tea production also plummeted so the country lost its most important source of foreign exchange needed to pay for the rice imports.

Rajapaksa got bamboozled by unicorn tears and has led the once relatively prosperous country into poverty.

Yes, organic framing is 100% to blame.

@Larr Flint LOL ask China for military support when they are at each others throat at the borders with almost daily skirmishes? Where have you been?

I don't understand why this president won't ask China for financial/military support.

I don't understand why this president won't ask China for financial/military support.

The US would be a much better option for Sri Lanka, as they do not do debt trap loans like China does. Nobody in their right mind would ask for military help from China except maybe NK and Russia.

I don't understand why this president won't ask China for financial/military support.

Why? Much of the current crisis is the result of debt owed the Chinese. The Chinese do not give grants, only loans and they expect repayment.

Yes, organic framing is 100% to blame.

Give it 40%. There was a series of terrorist attacks back in 2018 or 2019 right before the pandemic that chased away most tourism. Then came the pandemic that basically crushed whatever tourism was left. Tourism was a major source of foreign exchange and employment for Sri Lanka. It hasn't recovered, so give that some weight, maybe 30-40%. None of that would be so critical if Sri Lanka didn't have debts to pay China. That is soaking up their reserves.

The situation in Sri Lanka is too complicated to be solved by themselves, they are in a perfect storm of problems and I think it should be granted international help on humanitarian grounds to prevent loss of many lives. Politically there is nothing that can save the current government.