Storming the palace and then tidying up: Sri Lanka’s civil uprising

Galle, Sri Lanka: After the revolution, the clean up.

In keeping with the rare balance of anger and civility that’s epitomised Sri Lanka’s Colombo uprising against president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, many protesters returned to the scene 24 hours later.

This time, they were not there for more demonstrations, nor to trash Rajapaksa’s official residence, where hundreds of citizens have availed themselves of the president’s luxury living in a time of privations. Instead, they were there to tidy up.

Protesters storm the Sri Lankan president’s official residence in Colombo on Saturday.Credit: AP

Those images of Sri Lankans playing the president’s piano, lounging on his bed, even showering in his bathroom and swimming in his pool, captured a moment when the nation’s anger over its economic and political turmoils was let loose.

Janith Weerasingha, owner of a small Colombo fishing business, told The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald how demonstrators had pushed their way to the presidential palace.

“There were five barricades,” he said. “The protesters dismantled them one by one and by the time we were through the first barricade, water cannons were used to disperse the crowd.

Protesters take a dip in the president’s pool. Credit: AP

“We were in no mood to give up our struggle and since the protesters outnumbered the security personnel, we were able to get hold of one of the trucks that was employed to use water cannons. Then, we were tear-gassed. But the forward march was on.

“By the time we came into the last barricade, the police assaulted the protesters. Some were beaten up inhumanly. As more and more people made a push towards the final barricade, the forces gave up. And we were inside the Presidential Palace.”

The morning after, some protesters continued to mill around the president’s home. On a staircase sat a painting, emblazoned with the following sign: “It wasn’t Gota who drew the pictures. Don’t damage them.”

Outside, refuse from Saturday’s mass gathering was picked up, the Galle Face promenade was scoured, and the raucous scenes witnessed both in Colombo and Galle – where Australia and Sri Lanka are into day three of a Test match – were replaced by an eerie calm.

Partly, this was because of exhaustion. The effort to travel and protest at a time of massive fuel shortages was significant for many. Then there was the fact that in securing the resignations of Rajapaksa and the prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, the people had achieved the outcomes they had been seeking for weeks.

Thirdly, and not for the first time, there was a collective recoil from the extremes of Saturday night, when Wickremesighe’s private residence was set alight after increasingly intimidatory behaviour by some police, against journalists and protesters alike. Weerasingha described the protesters as a broad church.

“This is a monumental place and I feared that there could be vandalism and looting,” he said. “Some protesters warned others not harm the belongings but not all of them are like-minded people.

“I had no idea how big the palace was until we entered in. It was a unique experience. The public had got very little clue about what it looked like. We had mostly seen it on TV during functions.

Protesters say they had not realised how expansive the presidential palace was. Credit: AP

“The vast dining rooms and kitchens had variety of foods including the finest imported stuff. The bar had a variety of single malts and the protesters were having a whale of a time.”

As was the case with massed protests on May 9, which had escalated into violence that saw five people killed, the flashpoints did not spiral any further into chaos. Instead, leaders on all sides of the political and economic divides called for calm.

While the dramatic scenes of Saturday may have helped force leadership change, practical solutions to the economic and logistical hole faced by Sri Lanka’s people are still some way off.

The island’s next shipment of desperately needed fuel will not arrive until July 13 – the same day Rajapaksa has said he will resign. The IMF stated on Sunday that it hopes for a resolution of the current turmoil to restart negotiations around how to address the nation’s enormous national debt.

“We are closely monitoring the ongoing developments in Sri Lanka,” the IMF said in a statement. “We hope for a resolution of the current situation that will allow for resumption of our dialogue on an IMF-supported program.“

Nevertheless, the repair job for Sri Lanka’s leaders may take years, even after the current cycle of debt, shortages and the breakdown of the country’s agriculture and food supply are addressed.

It will not be as simple as storming the presidential residence, nor cleaning up rubbish on the Galle Face. But the combination of determination and forbearance shown by Sri Lanka’s people, over the course of a largely peaceful uprising, will help.

“The protest has been going on for months urging the president to resign, given the economic crisis the country is facing,” Weerasingha said. “[Saturday] was going a step further to intensify the pressure. The mighty have fallen.”

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