Protesters reject new Sri Lankan leader

 

‘He’s not our president’: Protesters reject new Sri Lankan leader

Protesters hit the streets as parliament elects Ranil Wickremesinghe as the crisis-hit country’s new president.

A protester waves a Sri Lankan flag during a protest against newly elected President Ranil Wickremesinghe, amid the country's economic crisis, in Colombo, Sri Lanka

Colombo, Sri Lanka – Anti-government protesters have returned to the streets of Sri Lanka’s capital and say they will continue their weeks-long uprising after parliament voted in acting leader Ranil Wickremesinghe as the country’s new president.

Hundreds of protesters gathered at the GotaGoGama site in Colombo on Wednesday, where only last week they had celebrated Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s resignation as president.

Addressing the crowds, protest leaders refused to accept six-time Prime Minister Wickremesinghe, 73, as the new head of state, holding him partly responsible for the country’s unprecedented economic and political crisis.

“As you know, the parliament elected a new president today, but that president is not new to us, it is not the people’s mandate,” Wasantha Mudalige, the leader of Inter University Student Federation, told the crowds.

“We managed to kick out Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who secured 6.9 million votes, but Ranil Wickremesinghe has now secured that seat from the back seat,” he added. “Ranil isn’t our president … the people’s mandate is on the streets.”

Protesters have also accused Wickremesinghe of making deals with the powerful Rajapaksa family to outmanoeuvre political rivals. Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s appointments of Wickremesinghe as prime minister in May and then acting president after he fled the country in July further angered protesters, who want the country’s ruling elite to go.

Protesters set Wickremesinghe’s personal residence on fire and occupied his office during protests last week.

At the protests on Wednesday, speaker after speaker – including Buddhist monks, Catholic clergy, students and artists – refused to endorse the parliament’s choice.

“Ranil Wickremesinghe should know that millions in the streets are much bigger than 134,” said artist Jagath Manuwarna, referring to 134 lawmakers who voted for Wickremesinghe.

While celebratory firecrackers were heard in some parts of the country last week when Sri Lankans heard Rajapaksa had resigned days, no such celebrations greeted Wickremesinghe’s appointment, with just dozens of his supporters seen celebrating on the streets.

Many Sri Lankan protesters were also left unimpressed with Wickremesinghe’s main rival at the election today, Dullas Alahapperuma, as he has no experience of governance in a heavily indebted country desperate for an International Monetary Fund bailout.

 Sri Lankans have been protesting for weeks amid an unprecedented economic meltdown that has brought the country to the brink of bankruptcy and increasingly unable to pay for food, fuel and medicine.

Cricket Sri Lanka

 

Cricket is ‘mental healing’ for many in crisis-hit Sri Lanka

Sport becomes a welcome distraction for Sri Lankans looking for a break from the effects of the economic crisis in the country.

Australia's cricket captain Pat Cummins take a selfie with fans after defeating Sri Lanka by 10 wickets in a Test match in Galle, Sri Lanka

The sport of cricket has become a welcome distraction for Sri Lankans looking for a break from the effects of the economic crisis in the country – long lines to buy fuel and cooking gas and school and work disrupted because there is little access to public transport.The cricket-crazed South Asian island nation is facing its worst economic crisis in recent memory, enduring acute shortages of food, fuel and medicine. The government has shut schools and universities and has limited fuel supplies.“Yes, there is a problem in the country – people have become poor and helpless with all kinds of problems. We have been living a monotonous life and sometimes spent five, six, seven days in fuel lines,” said Ujith Nilantha, who watched the first test between Sri Lanka and Australia with his 10-year-old son last week in the southern city of Galle.“There is no happiness for children, and we can’t provide what the child needs. When we watch this [cricket] it brings a mental healing,” added Nilantha, whose livelihood in the tourism sector has been disrupted after arrivals fell with the energy crisis.

Nilantha said he had planned to suggest his son play cricket, an expensive game by Sri Lanka’s standards, but his life changed quickly with the economic crisis and his plans were shattered.

“We love cricket but we can’t spend all our time on cricket, with the employment problems and all of that. But I expect to get some relief from the pressures by watching cricket.”

‘Only have cricket in times of sadness’

Cricket, a legacy from British colonisers, has become part of the local culture in Sri Lanka as in many South Asian and Caribbean nations. It has been looked upon as a unifying factor in a country torn apart by racial, religious and political discord.

Even a bloody quarter-century civil war did not hamper the progress or the following of the sport in Sri Lanka.

The now-defeated Tamil Tiger rebel group which fought for an independent state silenced their arms for the 1996 World Cup final, when Sri Lanka beat Australia to win the title.

Teenager Theekshana Nethumaksila was at the scenic cricket ground in Galle, having travelled from the neighbouring city of Matara by train.

People wait to buy fuel at a fuel station in Colombo

The 16-year-old Nethumaksila is scheduled to sit for public exams this year but is unable to prepare properly because the schools are closed.

“We only have cricket in times of sadness,” he said. “We come here to watch cricket to get it off our minds.”

Before going ahead with the tour, the Australian cricket team had to contemplate whether it was ethical to travel to Sri Lanka and play when local people were struggling even for basic needs.

The tour involved a three-game Twenty20 International (T20I) series, won by Australia, and a five-match One Day International (ODI) series, won 3-2 by Sri Lanka.

The Australian team’s decision to go ahead with the tour earned them admiration from fans who turned up at the fifth one-day match last month dressed in yellow – the colour of Australia’s ODI uniform – to thank them for entertaining them and sending a positive message about Sri Lanka to the world.

Some of the Australian players returned the favour. Led by captain Pat Cummins, many used social media to say they appreciated the outpouring of support they had received from the Sri Lankan fans.

Australia won the first Test match by 10 wickets, leaving Sri Lanka with a chance to square the series when the tour concludes with the second Test starting on Friday, also at Galle.

Sri Lanka’s central bank

 

Sri Lanka’s central bank hikes interest rates to 21-year high

The move comes as inflation hit a record 54.6 percent and food inflation galloped to 80.1 percent.

The Sri lankan prime minister has said that the inflation rate will hit 60 percent in the coming months amid rising commodity prices and a declining currency

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) has raised borrowing costs to tackle record-high domestic inflation and to contain any build up of underlying demand.

The Standing Lending Facility rate was raised on Thursday by a full percentage point (or 100 basis points) to15.5 percent while the Standing Deposit Facility Rate rose by the same amount to 14.5 percent, the highest in 21 years.

The decision comes as inflation touched a record 54.6 percent year-on-year in June while food inflation accelerated to 80.1 percent. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told parliament Tuesday, that the inflation rate will hit 60 percent in the coming months amid rising commodity prices and a declining currency.

“The Board was of the view that a further monetary policy tightening would be necessary to contain any build-up of adverse inflation expectations,” CBSL said in a statement.

The policy adjustment would help guide inflation expectations to be anchored around the targeted 4-6 percent level over the medium term and curtail any build up of underlying demand pressures in the economy, it said.

The island of 22 million people is wilting under a severe foreign exchange shortage that has it struggling to pay for essential imports of fuel, fertilisers, food and medicine.

Prior to Thursday’s decision, the country’s central bank had raised interest rates by 850 basis points since the beginning of the year, even as its economy contracted in the first quarter, marking the beginning of a painful and long recession for the country. Economic activity has also come to a grinding halt as the bankrupt nation asked residents to stay home until July 10 to conserve fuel.

There has been significant progress made in the negotiations with the International Monetary Fund for a credit facility while negotiations are on with bilateral and multilateral partners to secure bridge financing, the CBSL said.

“Bond yields shot up on Wednesday on the expectations of about a 500 basis point increase but what is interesting is the central bank is anchoring it’s decision on Sri Lanka seeing dis-inflation in the second quarter of 2023,” said Udeeshan Jonas, chief strategist at equity research firm CAL, referring to a slowdown in the rate of increase of prices of goods and services.

“Given the global changes, including oil prices trending downwards, it is clear the central bank is taking a measured approach and focusing on real interest rates and not matching cost-push inflation,” he added.

Dutch farmers block food warehouses over new environmental rules

Fishers block ports in a show of support for farmers who blockaded supermarket distribution centres over new rules.

About 25 tractors parked outside a distribution centre for supermarket chain Albert Heijn in Zaandam 

Farmers in the Netherlands have blockaded supermarket distribution centres in continuing protests against new environmental rules on nitrogen emissions that are likely to put many of them out of business.

Fishers on Monday blocked ports in a show of support for farmers. The blockade prevented ferries from sailing to almost all the Wadden Islands off the country’s northern coast and caused lengthy delays, shipping companies reported.

Also on Monday, farmers used tractors and large bales of hay to block entrances to the supermarket distribution centres, as the association of food traders warned of supply bottlenecks.

The action had been announced in advance, with farmers calling for “the entire country to be paralysed”.

Airports had also made preparation for blockades on access roads. Traffic along most of the country’s dense road network was reported to be normal.

A sign reads ‘Our Farmers, Our Future’ as about 25 tractors put up a blockade outside a

 distribution centre for supermarket chain Albert Heijn in the town of Zaandam 

Police said they would intervene if demonstrators moved to block access to Schiphol international airport near Amsterdam.

Over recent weeks, Dutch farmers have engaged in occasionally violent protests against environmental rules aimed at cutting back nitrogen emissions.

While other sectors, including construction, have also been hit, measures to curb the ammonia generated by livestock farming are a significant part of government plans.

Nitrogen emissions are to be cut by more than 70 percent in areas close to nature conservation areas. According to government estimates, this could lead to the shutting down of about 30 percent of livestock farms.

A 2019 ruling by the country’s highest court prompted the government to impose the measures.

Police look on as about 25 tractors set up a blockade outside a distribution 

 centre for supermarket chain Albert Heijn in Zaandam 

 

 

Why are farmers in the Netherlands angry?

Dutch farmers say plans by the government to reduce nitrogen emissions will harm their livelihoods.

Farmers in the Netherlands are blocking roads, setting fire to haystacks and even driving tractors through the streets of The Hague.

It is all in protest against laws that regulate emissions produced by livestock, but will have a significant impact on the farming community and the larger economy.

The Netherlands has failed to meet its emissions reduction targets – so permits for new homes and roads have not been granted since 2019, to prevent further pollution.

And the government has introduced tough new rules.

Its $100bn food export industry – one of the biggest in the world – could be badly affected.

So, what will this climate policy mean for global food supplies?

Sri Lanka’s economy: PM Ranil Wickremesinghe

 

EXCLUSIVE

I can turn around Sri Lanka’s economy: PM Ranil Wickremesinghe

Sri Lanka’s newly appointed prime minister says it will take one and a half years to stabilise the crisis-hit economy.

Colombo, Sri Lanka – Ranil Wickremesinghe, the newly appointed prime minister of crisis-hit Sri Lanka, has said he is confident he can turn the economy around – but cautioned it will take 18 months before stability returns.

“The year 2023 is going to be difficult, but by 2024 things should pick up,” Wickremesinghe told Al Jazeera last week [Thursday] in a wide-ranging interview at his official residence in the capital, Colombo.

The 73-year-old leader, who in May became prime minister for the sixth time, said that he took up the job under extraordinary circumstances.

“We had nearly two days without a government; things were getting out of hand,” he said, recalling the mass protests over shortages of fuel and electricity that forced Mahinda Rajapaksa, his predecessor and the brother of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, to resign.

“I thought ‘the situation is bad, it’s your country, so you can’t be wondering whether you are going to succeed or not. You take it over and work to succeed,’” said Wickremesinghe, who met the president at the request of some MPs from the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna party.

“I have confidence I can turn the economy around,” he said.

 The island nation of 22 million has been brought to a virtual standstill due to acute shortages of fuel and essential items such as food and medicines, as the government ran out of foreign reserves to import commodities earlier this year.

Sri Lanka defaulted on its external debt in April and the usable foreign reserves are so low that it has struggled to cover its needs from the international market.

In Colombo, the roads are nearly empty. Some long queues can be seen near the few petrol stations that are still open, but educational institutions, businesses and government offices remain shut. Hotels in the capital – once full of tourists – are struggling to stay afloat due to a sharp drop in guests.

Worst crisis since independence in 1948

Wickremesinghe, who has been tasked with lifting the country out of its worst crisis since independence in 1948, said there will be petrol shortages until at least July 22, when the next shipment is expected.

“We are buying fuel either using Indian credit lines or the foreign exchanges that we get from remittances. It’s [remittances] a small amount, but nevertheless, sometimes we get a billion dollar[s] or a billion and a half. The rest of the reserves from what we got from the creditors have already been busted,” he said.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, right, greets Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe during the latter’s oath-taking ceremony on May 25 [Sri Lankan President’s Office via AP]

Food inflation has risen to nearly 60 percent, while the crashing of the Sri Lankan rupee by more than 80 percent since March has further eroded people’s purchasing power.

Last month, the prime minister said the economy had “collapsed”.

“It’s a big setback to the economy and caused lot of hardship to the people … We have been taking steps … especially to get gas, which will be available in the next few days,” he told Al Jazeera, adding supplies of diesel and furnace oil have also been made.

“The issue has been petrol … and that will take a bit of time.”

Furthermore, the prime minister added that a gas deal has been secured, with most of the funding coming from the World Bank, which will ensure supplies for the next four months.

 

 

Dutch central bank apologises for historic links to slave trade

De Nederlandsche Bank announces a series of measures aimed at reducing ‘negative effects of 19th-century slavery’.

Klaas Knot speaks at the Group of 20 high-level seminar in Japan

The Dutch central bank chief has apologised for the institution’s involvement in the 19th-century slave trade, the latest expression of contrition in the Netherlands linked to the country’s historic role in the trade in enslaved people.

The apology came on Friday at an event on the country’s national day marking the Dutch abolishment of slavery and followed similar moves in recent years from municipal authorities in the main Dutch cities of Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Utrecht.

De Nederlandsche Bank has acknowledged that it was involved in the transatlantic slave trade between 1814 and 1863 and even paid compensation to plantation owners when the Netherlands abolished slavery, including to members of the central bank’s board at the time.

Klaas Knot, the president of the bank, told a gathering in Amsterdam: “Today, on behalf of De Nederlandsche Bank, I apologise for these reprehensible facts.”

“I apologise to all those who, because of the personal choices of many, including my predecessors, were reduced to the colour of their skin,” he said.

The bank announced a series of measures including boosting diversity and inclusiveness in its ranks and setting up a five-million-euro ($5.2m) fund for projects aimed at reducing “contemporary negative effects of nineteenth-century slavery”.

Knot’s apology came exactly a year after Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema apologised for the Dutch capital’s role in the slave trade.

In April, Dutch bank ABN AMRO also apologised for historic links to slavery in the 18th and 19th centuries.