Sri Lanka’s governing party on Tuesday defeated a move in Parliament to urgently debate a motion that would censure President Gotabaya Rajapaksa for the nation’s worst economic crisis, which the prime minister said has left only enough gasoline for one day. It was unclear when the motion will be taken up again. It would not legally require Rajapaksa to quit, but his refusal to do so has already roiled Sri Lanka, which is on the brink of bankruptcy as it negotiates an economic lifeline with other countries and institutions to be able to import basic supplies, medicines and fuel.
Protesters have occupied the entrance to the president’s office for more than a month calling for Rajapaksa’s resignation. Months of anti-government rallies have led to the near-dismantling of the once-powerful ruling family, with one of the president’s brothers resigning as prime minister, and other siblings and a nephew leaving their Cabinet posts. Protesters accuse the Rajapaksas of triggering the crisis through corruption and misrule. Attacks by Rajapaksa supporters on peaceful protesters last week sparked countrywide violence that left nine people, including a lawmaker, dead and more than 200 wounded. Many homes of lawmakers and their supporters were burned down.
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