President Gotabaya Rajapaksa last night issued a gazette notification declaring a public emergency with effect from April 1.
The President should obtain Parliamentary approval within ten days of the notification to continue with the state of emergency.
However, the President would be able to impose restrictions before the expiry of the stipulated period if the aim was to curb the massive protest organised for April 3.
After eleven constituent parties had opposed every movement of the government and the SLFP with fourteen members had called for a caretaker government to resolve the current issues, it is unlikely that the Parliamentary approval for the extension of the emergency would be forthcoming.
Meanwhile, Tamil National Alliance media spokesman and Parliamentarian M.A Sumanthirian has tweeted calling on the President to rescind the gazette declaring a state of emergency.
MP Sumanthiran tweeted,
We call upon PresidentGotabaya Rajapaksa to immediately rescind this gazette notification. You cannot stifle protests and opposition to the regime by declaring a state of emergency. I call upon fellow members of the Parlament not to approve this ill-advised move.
