In July 2022, months of protests culminated in the Sri Lankan people overthrowing President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. A year later, the promise of those heady days seems to have vanished. Under the current President Ranil Wickremesinghe, repression has intensified, and labor reforms and privatization have angered unions.
Ahilan Kadirgamar, Senior Lecturer at the University of Jaffna, talks about how the key issues that led to the protests remained unaddressed. The symptoms of the economic crisis may have changed but poorer sections continue to suffer.
Meanwhile, Ranil Wickremesinghe is going all out to implement IMF conditions, which will be disastrous for the Sri Lankan economy. Ahilan talks about the nature of these measures. He also talks about the social aspects, including the fears of a right-wing resurgence.
