Sri Lanka's PM encourages protesting youth to join government

Police fired tear gas to disperse thousands of students protestors trying to storm the Sri Lankan president's home

Police fire water cannon on students during an anti-government demonstration demanding the resignation of Sri Lanka's President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in Colombo, Sri Lanka. AFP

Sri Lanka’s prime minister on Sunday said that youth protest groups will be invited to be part of governance under reforms he is proposing to solve a political crisis triggered by an economic collapse.

In a televised statement to the nation, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said that under proposed constitutional reforms, powers of the president will be limited and those of Parliament strengthened.

“The youth are calling for a change in the existing system. They also want to know the current issues. Therefore, I propose to appoint four youth representatives to each of these 15 committees,” Mr Wickremesinghe said.

The 15 committees would work with Parliament to decide national policies, he said. That governance will be broad-based through parliamentary committees where lawmakers, youth and experts will work together.

Protesters consisting of mainly young people have camped out outside President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's office for more than 50 days.

They are demanding the resignation of Mr Rajapaksa, holding him and his family responsible for the country’s worst economic crisis yet.

They also want an overhaul of a system of governance, saying successive administrations since independence from Britain in 1948 have misgoverned Sri Lanka, resulting in economic and social crises.

According to Mr Wickremesinghe’s proposal, one of the youth representatives will be appointed by the so-called youth parliament and the other three will come from protest groups and other campaign organisations.

“The methodology used to choose these individuals can be decided by the youth organisations themselves,” he said.

There has been no comment from youth groups to his proposal.

Setting up new broad-based parliamentary committees can be done under the current constitution, but broader reforms such as reducing presidential powers would need approval of the Supreme Court and a two-thirds parliamentary majority.

It is not clear when the bill for the debate will be introduced.

Police fired teargas on Sunday to disperse thousands of students trying to storm the president's residence as the government offered a concession to demonstrators demanding his resignation.

Anti-riot squads used water cannon followed by teargas, as protesters pulled down yellow iron barricades across a road leading to Mr Rajapaksa's official residence in Colombo.

Several men were seen picking up canisters and throwing them back towards the police who fired them.

Female medical and science students joined the protests, when authorities unleashed water cannon.

Meanwhile, thousands of men and women demonstrated for the 51st day in a row outside Mr Rajapaksa's office, demanding he step down.

The demonstrations led to tense scenes on the streets of Colombo, where authorities struggled to disperse large crowds and a pall of chemical irritants hung over the streets.

A shortage of foreign exchange to import even the most essential supplies, including food, fuel and medicines, has led to severe hardships for the country's 22 million people.

Mr Wickremesinghe has said that he will have an economic reform plan ready within two weeks to seek approval from the International Monetary Fund for a bailout package.

The country has defaulted on its $51 billion foreign debt.

Students have led nearly daily protests in Colombo and elsewhere as Sri Lanka teeters on the brink of bankruptcy.

It has already defaulted on its foreign loans. People have been forced to wait for hours in long lines to try to buy goods and many still go empty-handed.

Agencies have contributed to this report.