Paradisiacal beaches without a single tourist. Empty supermarket shelves. Galloping inflation. Endless queues at gas stations. Power outages of up to 13 hours. Isolated people at home. Schools closed. Pharmacies without antibiotics. Ambulances without fuel. Salary reduction. Mass protests. Twitching. resignations. Occupation of government buildings. Leaders fleeing abroad on the run. Uncertainty about the future.
There was a time when Sri Lanka, an island nation of 22 million people to the south of India, was cited as a paradigm of successful development: a tourist haven with a thriving rising middle class and one of the highest median incomes from South Asia. However, the once exemplary country is now experiencing its worst financial and institutional crisis since its independence in 1948.
Its population, overwhelmed by hardship, has risen up against its authorities. His action has forced the flight and resignation of President Gotabaya Rapajaksa, whom they consider the main person responsible for their ills, and opened an uncertain transition process that is experiencing critical days this week.
Not that there were no problems before. In 2009, the central government launched its final offensive against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Land, putting an end to a bloody civil war that lasted more than three decades. At that time, the president was Mahinda Rajapaksa, and his brother Gotabaya - now on the run - was responsible for the Armed Forces that, according to international organizations, caused a "bloodbath" in the northern region where the Tamil population is concentrated. In the years that followed, the ruling clan, no stranger to corruption and nepotism, accumulated a large public debt and unbalanced the balance of payments.
For the population, the situation really began to go wrong in 2019, the year in which Gotabaya became president. First there were the Islamist attacks on Easter Sunday. That day, several bombs planted in churches and hotels in the capital, Colombo, killed almost 300 people. His action scared away international tourism, key to the local economy, a sector that suffered its final blow with the arrival of the pandemic a year later.
But it is not only external factors that have caused the crisis. After becoming president, Rajapaksa approved a massive and highly controversial tax cut in November 2019. Another very controversial measure was the ban in 2021 on importing chemical fertilizers to promote organic agriculture. His decision caught farmers off guard, affected vital rice harvests, the main staple food for the population, and pushed up prices. In the end he had to reverse his decision.
With less internal and external income, the country was left without foreign currency to import fuel, food, medicine or products such as toilet paper. World records in food and energy prices caused by the war in Ukraine exacerbated the crisis.
In recent months, the Sri Lankan rupee has plummeted and inflation is skyrocketing (55% in June). In April, the Government stopped paying its foreign debt of 51,000 million dollars and is in talks with the International Monetary Fund for a possible rescue.
The combination of shortcomings worries organizations such as Unicef. According to their estimates, so far this year, two out of three families have been forced to reduce their food consumption. Meanwhile, the lack of fuel has caused severe disruptions in daily life, with schools closed, queues for miles to get a few liters and many people forced to stay at home without being able to go to their jobs.
As expected, the economic crisis became political. In a country historically divided by ethnic and religious conflicts, the popular uprising over the rising cost of living and the lack of basic products mobilized citizens from all communities. The ongoing protests, mostly peaceful, reached their peak almost two weeks ago, when they stormed the official residence of President Rajapkasa, who chose to put land in between and fled to Singapore on Thursday of last week.
His escape has opened a hole that must now be filled. This Wednesday, the national Parliament will meet to elect a new president. Among the main candidates is the prime minister and current interim president, Ranil Wickremesinghe, or Dullas Alahapperuma, who will have the support of the main opposition party, Samagi Jana Balawegaya. Whoever wins will have the difficult task of pulling the country out of ruin and inspiring a population that is fed up with its ruling class.
