Protests over shortages forced the ouster of Sri Lanka’s president, but the crisis has deep-set roots in ethnonationalism, which has encouraged corruption, argues an expert on the country’s politics.
People power? Sri Lankans storm the presidential palace in Colombo on July 9 2022.
EPA-EFE/Chamila Karunarathne
It’s the ‘religion of peace’, with a long history of warlike behaviour.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the frontrunner in Sri Lanka’s presidential election, faces a lawsuit in the US for alleged extrajudicial killing and torture.
M.A. Pushpa Kumara/EPA
Gotabaya Rajapaksa is the frontrunner in the presidential election. He was defence secretary during his brother Mahinda’s presidency when the government is accused of numerous wartime atrocities.