Colombo: Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa late on Tuesday revoked the emergency rule ordinance that had gone into effect on 1 April, even as the government struggled to quell protests amid the nation’s worst economic crisis in decades.
The proclamation that took effect 1 April is repealed as of midnight 5 April, Rajapaksa said in an extraordinary gazette late Tuesday.
Imposing Emergency had given Rajapaksa sweeping powers to detain protesters and seize property, but he also faced mounting calls from lawmakers to step down.
He dissolved his cabinet on Monday and sought to form a unity government as public unrest surged over his handling of the economic crisis that has led to shortages of food and fuel and prolonged power cuts.
Eleven parties within the ruling coalition said in Parliament Tuesday that they would function as independent lawmakers and some members of Rajapaksaās party will distance themselves from the government, putting a simple majority in the 225-seat legislature in doubt.