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Trade unions warn against U-turn on resignation

11 Jul 2022

  • Hartal today and tomorrow
  • Further agitation if no resignation
The Centre for the Workers’ Struggle, a multi-sectoral collection of trade unions, announced yesterday (10) that it would engage in a hartal today (11) and tomorrow (12), and that further trade union action will be taken if it is understood that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa will not resign this Wednesday (13) as promised.  “We have called for a hartal tomorrow (11) and the day after (12). We will monitor his actions and if more conspiracies unfold, the sectors of banking, electricity, and other industries will opt for immediate strike action. Since at a moment like this politics can change in an hour, we will go into this action without prior warning,” warned Centre for the Workers’ Struggle Organising Secretary Duminda Nagamuwa at a media briefing held yesterday.  He inquired as to why the President has stated he would resign on Wednesday instead of resigning immediately. “The largest people’s struggle in history happened yesterday (9). For months, people have been calling for him to resign. He did not listen to that. Now, he has said that he will resign, but wants to stay until Wednesday (13). What is the reason for that? Is there an auspicious time on Wednesday for his resignation?” Noting that there is presently a huge political crisis compounded by an economic crisis, resulting in people dying everyday, Nagamuwa said that it is critical that the President’s resignation is immediate and certain.  “We need answers for the socio-political and economic questions too. Every day the political crisis continues is another day with no fuel for the country. So what is the reason for him to stay for another three days? He must resign, because his staying is part of another conspiracy hatched in a palace. On Saturday (9), after a successful people’s struggle, armed forces assaulted media personnel in front of Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe’s house, but somehow could not stop people from entering his house to set fire to it. Why did they look on during the fire? There must be some reason for this. This may be a way of turning the public struggle into something else,” said Nagamuwa.  On Saturday, hundreds of thousands of people descended upon the “GotaGoGama” protest site at Galle Face Green, where they ultimately took over the Presidential Secretariat, the official residence of the President, and Temple Trees – the official residence of the Prime Minister. The three buildings remain occupied, with key protestors stating that they would remain occupied until President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s official resignation, which  Speaker of the Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena has stated will happen on Wednesday. This protest took place 93 days after the “GotaGoGama” permanent protest site was set up on 9 April, which came after growing calls from around the country for the President’s resignation.


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