Several foreign delegations in Sri Lanka have raised concerns on the President’s decision to declare state of emergency in the country.
The European Union (EU) delegation in Sri Lanka said that State of emergency will certainly not help solving the country’s difficulties and could have a counter productive effect.
“A month of peaceful demonstrations has shown how Sri Lankan citizens fully enjoy their right to freedom of expression in the oldest democracy in South Asia” It further said, via a tweet earlier today.
US ambassador to Sri Lanka Julie Chung also has said that she is concerned regarding the state of emergency declared in the country.
Tweeting today, the Ambassador said that the voices of peaceful citizens need to be heard and the very real challenges Sri Lankans are facing require long term solutions to set the country back on a path toward prosperity and opportunity for all.
Meanwhile, New Zealand high commissioner to Sri Lanka Michael Appleton also tweeted raising concerns about the state of emergency declared, without a clear rationale provided.
“Sri Lankans, whose recent protests have been overwhelmingly peaceful, deserve to have their voices heard. We encourage all to focus on solving Sri Lanka’s political & economic challenges.” He further said.
“A democratic and peaceful approach is essential to resolving the current challenges. Rights to peaceful protest and freedom of expression must be respected alongside all fundamental rights. Emergency laws restricting those rights work against democratic dialogue & solutions.” UK High Commissioner Sarah Hulton tweeted.
This is the 2nd time in 5 weeks that President Gotabaya Rajapksa has declared a state of Emergency in the country. Earlier, A State of Emergency was declared on the 1st of April before it was revoked 5 days later. (NewsWire)