Protesters who occupied an area around the president’s office for months during Sri Lanka’s worst economic crisis since independence have dispersed.
Instead, carolers sang to the public from across the heavily guarded fence of the Presidential Secretariat. An 80-foot (24 m) Christmas tree rose alongside the building, a signature piece with landscape decorations, food stalls and musical shows. And as the fireworks rang in the New Year, a large crowd flocked to the beach known as Galle Face Green.
It was all part of a festival zone planned by the government to attract year-end tourists to the central business district of Sri Lanka’s capital, Colombo.
But for many locals, who used the site as “ground zero” for Occupy-style protests from April to August, demanding the resignation of their leaders, there is little to celebrate.
“It’s disgusting,” says Swastika Arlingam. “This is an indecent display of wealth that this country does not have, and this country is depriving the most vulnerable sectors of our population of resources.”
Carnival lights are particularly attractive, she adds, given that the state-run electricity board has lost 150 billion Sri Lankan rupees (£344m) this year.
The possibility of an extension to the daily blackout is once again looming. Foodstuffs, transport fees and children’s school supplies are becoming increasingly unaffordable. And the new year brings with it a huge tax hike that will add to the misery.
Ms Arlingam says there is “a kind of pseudo-stability” at the moment, but residents are under a lot of pressure as it becomes increasingly difficult to make a living.
For much of the past year, Sri Lankans have faced severe shortages of food, fuel and other basic goods after a series of post-pandemic government policies depleted foreign reserves and left the country on the brink of bankruptcy. gave Long fuel queues and power outages fueled months of widespread unrest, culminating in the storming and occupation of the government workplace and residence of then-President Gotabaya Rajapakse in July, forcing him to leave the country. Forced to flee.
Six months later, with more pain on the horizon, early elections have been called for. Mr Rajapaksa’s parliament-appointed replacement, Ranil Wickramasinghe, has largely refused, but local government elections are expected to be held next month after a year’s delay.
Mr Wickramasinghe has also cracked down on the anti-government protest movement and its leaders, after vowing that he would not allow “fascists” to “tear down our constitution”.
“Any kind of protest is under control in Sri Lanka at the moment,” says Sharin Sarwar, a local human rights campaigner. The army needs to be called in to control the country.”
Ms Sarwar points out how Mr Wickremesinghe retains the powers of the executive presidency – he can deploy security forces, and issue detention orders known as the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). can.
Critics say the system, which concentrates too much power in the hands of the president, was strengthened by Rajapaksa during his two decades in power, and lacks adequate checks and balances. The demand for its abolition and constitutional reform was a key demand in last year’s protests.
Father Jeontha Parris, a Catholic priest, is among the protest leaders charged under the PTA with various criminal offenses including assault and unlawful assembly. He is fighting what he calls “baseless allegations” in court.
