Sri Lanka Lifts Curfew When New PM Will Set Up Cabinet

JAKARTA - Sri Lanka lifted a curfew on Saturday as Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe seeks to form a government.

The move was taken by the new prime minister after clashes with anti-government groups left nine people dead.

More than a month of peaceful demonstrations against the government turned violent this week after supporters of former PM Mahinda Rajapaksa stormed an anti-government protest camp in the capital Colombo. They set fire to tents and clashed with demonstrators.

Clashes and reprisals against government figures also left 300 people injured.

The government lifted the curfew from 06.00 am (07.30 WIB) to 18.00 on Saturday. The 24-hour curfew on Monday has been lifted for several hours on Thursday and Friday to allow people to buy necessities.

Rajapaksa stepped down after violence broke out on Monday, while his younger brother, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, remains president.

Sri Lanka, hit hard by the pandemic, soaring oil prices, and tax cuts by a populist government, is in its worst economic crisis since independence from Britain in 1948.

The country's foreign exchange reserves have dwindled, inflation spiraling out of control and a shortage of fuel has sparked street protests by thousands of people.

Wickremesinghe, who has previously been prime minister four times, was reappointed on Thursday. The 73-year-old is expected to start appointing ministers before a parliamentary session on Tuesday.

Wickremesinghe is the only MP from the United National Party and will rely heavily on other parties to form a coalition government. Rajapaksa's family party, Sri Lanka's Podujana Peramuna, has pledged to support him.

The main opposition groups have refused to lend support, but several smaller parties have said they will support the new prime minister's policies to stabilize the economy.