For the first time, the secretary general of Sri Lanka’s parliament, Dhammika Dasanayake, read aloud former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s resignation letter in which he claimed that he “took all possible steps” to prevent the crisis and did his “utmost” for the country.
Rajapaksa’s resignation letter breaks the ousted President’s conspicuous silence, which he has maintained since the events of last week. Following months of unrest, on the 9th July, protesters stormed the President’s house and demanded his resignation. The day prior, he had made a desperate escape to the Maldives, fearing prosecution for his numerous crimes.
Economists in turn have turned to the country’s disastrous economic and diplomatic policies, which have crippled the island. Isolationist policies have seen credit ratings plummet, which had been paired with severe trade restrictions on essential goods, including essential goods such as turmeric. In addition to bans on chemical fertilizers and an ill-timed tax cut, the country was forced into bankruptcy.
Read more here: Sri Lanka’s crisis is of its own making
In his letter, Rajapaksa further claimed that:
“It is a matter of personal satisfaction for me that I was able to protect our people from the pandemic despite the economic crisis we were already facing”.
The pandemic killed over 16,500 people and infected more than 660,000 as Rajapaksa consistently refused to institute a lockdown despite the warnings from the country’s health experts. Instead, the military was placed in charge despite widespread criticism.
Boram Jang, Legal Advisor at the International Commission of Jurists Asia & the Pacific Programme, wrote at the time:
“Having the military to oversee the public health policy and to act as the State’s first responders also normalises military occupation, exacerbates the existing ethnic divides, and further deteriorates human rights in Sri Lanka”