Colombo, Jul 29 (PTI) Sri Lankan police carried out searches at the office of the Frontline Socialist Party here on Friday as the new government led by President Ranil Wickremesinghe widens its crackdown on anti-government parties and activists.
The new Sri Lankan government’s clampdown has also included arrests of some leading activists accused of creating unrest in the country which is grappling with the worst economic crisis.
“A group of people in civilian clothes walked into our office and searched all over our premises. They didn’t have a search warrant and only one of them was wearing a police uniform,” said Duminda Nagamuva, the party spokesman.
Later, another police team arrived to do another search, he said, terming it “clear state repression”.
The Frontline Socialist Party (FSP) is a communist party in Sri Lanka. It was launched in April 2012 by dissident members of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna.
The FSP activists were blamed by the ruling party politicians for being behind the arson attacks on their properties.
They were also accused of hijacking the non-political protests held across the country for over 3 months which culminated in the fleeing of the former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa from the country.
On July 9, anti-government protesters occupied the official residence of Rajapaksa and the private home of Wickremesinghe. The mob also torched the private residence of Wickremesinghe.
A massive protest on July 13 attempted to break into the parliamentary complex in continuation with the July 9 popular uprising, forcing Rajapaksa to leave the country to the Maldives and then to Singapore.
Last week, Sri Lanka’s Parliament elected Wickremesinghe, an ally of Rajapaksa, as the successor to Rajapaksa, who resigned after reaching Singapore. It was the first time in 44 years that Sri Lanka’s Parliament directly elected a president.
The government has faced international condemnation for unleashing force on the protesters.
Addressing a gathering at his party headquarters on Wednesday, the newly-elected president said his government was not against peaceful protest and would allow them all the time if the protesters did not break the law.
“I became the president at a most difficult time for the country. We have to set the economy right,” he said.
Wickremesinghe said his government’s main task was to first reduce the length of fuel queues and then eliminate them completely.
Sri Lanka has seen months of mass unrest over the worst economic crisis and many blame the former government led by Rajapaksa and his family for mishandling the island nation’s economy. The government declared bankruptcy in mid-April by refusing to honour its international debt.
Sri Lanka, a country of 22 million people, is under the grip of an unprecedented economic turmoil, the worst in seven decades, leaving millions struggling to buy food, medicine, fuel and other essentials. Sri Lanka’s total foreign debt stands at USD 51 billion. PTI CORR MRJ AKJ MRJ
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