Sri Lanka's Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa on Sunday said that the country is witnessing the most calamitous and disastrous Labour Day since its independence and the working people were observing a “Black May Day” this year due to the "reckless" policies of the "tyrannical regime" led by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
Sri Lanka is currently in the throes of unprecedented economic turmoil since its independence from Britain in 1948.
The crisis is caused in part by a lack of foreign currency, which has meant that the country cannot afford to pay for imports of staple foods and fuel, leading to acute shortages and very high prices.
Premadasa, who is also the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) leader, said in a message to mark the International Workers' Day that the present “reckless” government led by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has pushed the island nation to the brink of bankruptcy for the first time in its history, the Colombo Page news portal reported.
“Due to the inability, failure, illogical arbitrariness and arrogance of a tyrannical regime, our country and future generations have been plunged into an unprecedented fate.
“In such a situation, working people in our country have to celebrate May Day this year as a “Black May Day”, he was quoted as saying by the online news portal.
Premadasa said that this may be the last May Day celebrated in an anarchic country and a victory for working people. Labour Day is a symbolic day that commemorates the history of the bitter struggle in which working people sacrificed their lives shedding blood and sweat and carried on for a long time up to victory, he said.
“But now the current regime in our country is depriving working people of even the rights they won in the past. “We have never seen a government in history that has shattered all hopes of people in the country in such a short period of time after assuming power,” the Opposition Leader said, adding that the government has robbed all hopes of working people of the state and the private sector.
Even people who are barely making their ends meet have been thrown onto the road, he claimed.
“The entire working class, including in health, farming, fisheries, estate, transportation sectors etc., are facing severe hardships. And, it is not even possible to find a non-anarchic, unbroken field.
“Even those who are performing the most essential services, risking their lives to carry out their mission, have fallen out of the attention of the rulers,” Premadasa said.
Unscrupulous economic management has led to the plundering of local resources and it is almost impossible to find even a single field which remains undisrupted, he said.
“Social problems have been aggravated by the inability of this bankrupt government to provide basic necessities such as food, shelter, clothing, medicine, education, employment and so on.
“This anarchic regime, which has failed to create an environment in which the people can live without fear or suspicion, has made its sole existence dependent on state terrorism,” Premadasa added.
Meanwhile, former president and the Chairman of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) Maithripala Sirisena said that the government has to accept the people's demands, pointing out that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa took over a prosperous country but now over 200,000 to 300,000 people have to face hunger and starvation.