The Military Still Runs the Show in Sri Lanka

In the early hours of July 22, hundreds of Sri Lankan soldiers marched through the country’s capital. They were preparing for a brutal crackdown on anti-government demonstrators who slept in tents at Galle Face Green, an oceanside park in Colombo. Without warning, soldiers attacked the camps and beat protesters, leaving at least 50 injured. Amnesty International described the crackdown as a “shameful, brutal assault.”

Ranil Wickremesinghe, who was appointed acting president on July 13 (and subsequently elected) after the former president was ousted following civil unrest, has not shied away from using military force and extended a state of emergency he declared as acting president. When faced with criticism, Wickremesinghe reportedly lashed out at diplomats, telling U.S. Ambassador Julie Chung to “read your country’s history starting from Abraham Lincoln.” “Would your governments allow such protesters to illegally occupy the office of the president in your country and refuse to leave?” he is reported to have said.

Wickremesinghe’s democratic man-date is questionable. During the 2020 parliamentary election, his United National Party secured only a single