Sri Lanka declares state of emergency

Streets in Sri Lanka's commercial capital Colombo were calm on Saturday after the president declared a state of emergency following escalating anti-government protests, report agencies.
Details of the latest emergency regulations were not yet made public, but previous emergency laws have given greater powers to the president to deploy the military, detain people without charge and break up protests.
"The President has taken this decision due to the public emergency situation in Sri Lanka and in the interests of public security, the protection of public order and the maintenance of supplies and services essential to the life of the community," a statement released by his office said.
There were no initial reports of late-night disturbances following the emergency declaration shortly before midnight, while traffic proceeded as normal in Galle Face, a central area of Colombo that has been a major site of protests and marches.
On Friday police fired tear gas at dozens of demonstrators outside parliament, in the latest in more than a month of sporadically violent anti-government protests amid shortages of imported food, fuel and medicines.
Hit hard by the pandemic, rising oil prices and government tax cuts, Sri Lanka
has been left with as little as $50 million in useable foreign reserves, the finance minister said this week.
The country has approached the International Monetary Fund for a bailout.
The IMF will meet with Sri Lankan officials in a virtual meeting beginning on Monday, a statement from Masahiro Nozaki, the IMF's mission chief for Sri Lanka, said on Saturday said.
Another report adds: In the midst of Sri Lanka's worst economic crisis since its Independence, diplomats and human rights organisations raised concerns on Saturday after its president announced a state of emergency and police were seen using force against peaceful demonstrators.
The island nation's economic and political turmoil has sparked nationwide protests calling for Rajapaksa and his powerful ruling family to step down.
The Sri Lankan President invoked sections of the Public Security Ordinance that allow him to enact laws in the interests of public security and order, as well as for the maintenance of necessary supplies.
The emergency regulations authorise Rajapaksa to order detentions, seize property, and search any locations. He will also avail the power to amend or suspend any law.
The state of emergency has concerned the US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Julie Chung, who stressed that "the voices of peaceful citizens need to be heard."
And the very real challenges Sri Lankans are facing require long term solutions to set the country back on a path toward prosperity and opportunity for all. The SOE (State of Emergency) won't help do that," she wrote in a Twitter post.
Meanwhile, Canadian envoy David McKinnon stated that the people of Sri Lanka have a right to peaceful protest under democracy and that it is "hard to understand why it is necessary, then, to declare a state of emergency."
Amnesty International stated that the protests have been peaceful and that the police had arbitrarily curtailed the right to peaceful assembly. Despite the emergency law, protesters have vowed to continue with their demonstrations.