The National People’s Power (NPP) led by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) held a massive protest in the Town Hall area in Colombo against the postponement of the Local Government (LG) elections by current President and Finance, Economic Stabilisation, and National Policies Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and the Government led by him, which many parties claimed to be one of the largest protests after the massive public protests which demanded the resignation of then-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa last year (2022).
Thousands of NPP and JVP supporters gathered at the Viharamahadevi (Victoria) Park in Colombo last afternoon (26) to protest the postponement of the LG election due to the President, as the Finance, Economic Stabilisation, and National Policies Minister, not releasing the necessary funds to the Elections Commission (EC). The majority of those who gathered to take part in the protest were youths.
At around 3 p.m., NPP and JVP Leader and MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake, NPP MPs Vijitha Herath and Dr. Harini Amarasuriya, and many other frontline NPP members, including Sunil Handunnetthi, Tilvin Silva, Bimal Ratnayake, Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa, Mahinda Jayasinghe, Mahinda Samarasinghe, Samatha Vidyaratne, and Attorneys Harshana Nanayakkara and Sunil Watagala, were seen participating in the protest.
Prior to the commencement of the protest, the Colombo Fort and Maligakanda Magistrate’s Courts, considering requests made by the respective police stations, had issued orders preventing certain participants of the protest from entering several areas in Colombo.
The Colombo Fort Magistrate’s Court had issued an order preventing any protest marches from taking place in the Kollupitiya and Colombo Fort areas from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. yesterday. The order had been issued against 26 persons, including Dissanayake, from marching towards the Galle Face Green, the Presidential Secretariat, the President’s House, the Finance, Economic Stabilisation, and National Policies Ministry premises, and several other places through multiple roads in Colombo, inconveniencing pedestrians or vehicular traffic or causing damage to public property.
The Maligakanda Magistrate’s Court had also issued an order against 26 persons, including Dissanayake, preventing them from entering the Hospital Square area in Colombo yesterday. The order had been following a request made by the Maradana Police, which prevented the said 26 persons from entering the areas surrounding the National Hospital of Sri Lanka (NHSL), the National Eye Hospital, the Cardiology Unit of the NHSL, and the Hospital Square area in Maradana (Colombo 10).
The protestors who gathered at the Viharamahadevi Park started moving towards Colombo Fort from near the Nelum Pokuna Mahinda Rajapaksa Theatre in Colombo at around 3.15 p.m. Dissanayake, Herath, Amarasuriya, Silva, and Handunnetti and others marched at the front of the protest, carrying a banner which read “Let’s defeat the cowardly attempt of the Government to postpone the election and destroy democracy”.
The protestors were chanting slogans such as “Join us to ensure democracy”, “Don’t think of denying the people their election”, “Don’t touch (disrupt) elections”, “The Government is afraid of public opinion and postponed the LG election”, “Wickremesinghe, are you shivering (afraid)?” and “Let’s kick out mad Wickremesinghe”, and carrying placards that read similar protest slogans.
As the protestors moved towards the Colombo Fort, it was observed that police officers stationed on one side of the road were booed at by protestors. Further down the road, the protestors, including Dissanayake, had to stop near the Dialog Axiata PLC, as a number of Police and Police Riot Unit Officers had been deployed, entirely blocking the road.
At this juncture, Dissanayake and others requested the police officers to allow them to move towards the Colombo Fort, saying they wanted to move forward on one side of the road and would ensure that no protestor engages in any act of violence. When the Police said that they could not allow the protest march to move forward due to the road being blocked, Dissanayake and others pointed out that it was the Police and not the protestors who were blocking the road.
The protestors informed the senior police officers present at the place that they were not ready to turn back for any reason and that if they were not given the opportunity to move towards Colombo Fort, a conflict situation would arise. However, the police officers continued to say that since the court had issued an order preventing the holding of protests in the Colombo Fort area and permission had not been obtained to conduct a protest march as per the relevant provisions of the Police Ordinance, the protestors cannot be permitted to move towards the Colombo Fort for any reason.
At this point, using a loudspeaker, a police officer announced that under the relevant section of the Criminal Procedure Code and the Police Ordinance, the Officer-in-Charge of the nearest police station should be informed about any procession at least six hours in advance. The Police also announced that the protestors had violated Section 78 (2) of the Police Ordinance Act by holding a demonstration without such notification. Therefore, the Police announced that they will consider all those participating in the protest as members of an illegal assembly, and take steps to disperse them if the protestors do not leave.
Following the announcement, the protestors were observed booing at the police officers. By this time, in addition to the Police and Anti-Riot Unit Officers, a large group of army personnel and two water cannon trucks had also been deployed, blocking the road. Recalling the popular slogan “Gota pissek (Gotabaya is a madman)” during the protests demanding Rajapaksa’s resignation, the protestors were observed chanting “Ranil pissek (Wickremesinghe is a madman)”.
Dissanayake and others continued seeking permission to move towards the Colombo Fort, but police officers denied the same, while protestors continuously booed at the police officers. At a later stage, the Police resorted to using tear gas and water cannons against the protestors, following which, the protestors, who remained in the area for some time, gathered at a place a little further away, and several NPP members including Dissanayake addressed the gathering. By this time the Police and Anti Riot Unit Officers as well as army personnel were also observed in and around the area the protestors were located previously.