Shaking It Up: Sri Lanka’s First Presidential Arrest Tests Its Revolution 

In 2022, mass protests known as the Aragalaya (the Struggle) broke out in Sri Lanka, leading to the ouster of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa – and other members of his family who had run, and pillaged, the country since 2005 – over the worst economic crisis in the country’s history.  

The crisis had led to severe shortages of food, medicine, fuel, and electricity.  

Two years later, Sri Lankans deepened their revolution by taking a chance on the Marxist-leaning candidate for president, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, known as AKD, of the National People’s Power (NPP) party. AKD won the presidency and a historic parliamentary majority a few months later, riding the wave of public anger at elite corruption and mismanagement that they believed continued under Rajapaksa’s successor, President Ranil Wickremesinghe.

AKD promised more accountability and justice. 

In August, he delivered via the arrest of Wickremesinghe on charges of corruption: He is accused of misusing public funds when he included a stopover in London to attend his wife’s graduation ceremony following an official trip to the US in 2023. 

However, protests broke out immediately after the arrest.  

One protester in one of the country’s two capitals, Colombo, told the Associated Press the government has failed to deliver on its promises to improve the economy and is now “trying to hunt down the political opponents.” 

“We condemn the arrest of Wickremesinghe who has done so much for the country,” said Samarasiri Kuruwitaarachchi, 69. “The inflation is so high, people are suffering… so they want to suppress the opposition. We demand justice…” 

Wickremesinghe – who served as president from 2022 to 2024 and was prime minister six times before that – is the first former president to be arrested in Sri Lanka and the highest-profile figure facing a corruption probe under AKD. More than 20 other former senior government officials are currently under investigation. 

Analysts say the recent protests stem from impatience by Sri Lankans to see quick results and also encouragement by the old guard. But they add that the current leadership is fulfilling its promise to clean up the country, the first real attempt to do so in the country’s modern history. 

“His arrest represents one of the most consequential moments in Sri Lanka’s postcolonial history (…) shattering the longstanding assumption that those at the top of the country’s politics remain forever beyond the reach of the law,” Thiruni Kelegama of Oxford University wrote in the Conversation. “(Sri Lankans) pay daily for a crisis born of elite misrule. In this context, elite accountability is not just symbolic, it is the bare minimum of justice.” 

She is referring to austerity measures that are part of an International Monetary Fund bailout program, which was negotiated by Wickremesinghe, who is credited with stabilizing the economy following its financial collapse in 2022. These measures include higher taxes, subsidy cuts, and the shrinking of the budget by cutting public services that have left Sri Lankans struggling, striking, and protesting over the past year. 

“My salary is about 80,000 rupees ($265)… It’s a serious struggle to manage day-to-day living expenses…,” said Nishadi, a nurse.  

Still, economic recovery will take time, analysts say, pointing out that the current government has moved quickly to provide some relief from the austerity measures.  

Moreover, they add, the president is making good on his promises to tackle corruption and impunity for elites, which could help implement a system of rule of law and promote investment.  

For example, even though Sri Lanka’s top court ruled in 2023 that the powerful Rajapaksa brothers – including two ex-presidents – and other officials were guilty of triggering the island’s worst financial crisis by mishandling the economy, it ordered no punishment, leaving that up to the government. It did nothing.  

Also, many of the current investigations into top officials began more than a decade ago but languished.  

As a result, the elite are closing ranks, with former heads of state and opposition lawmakers – including numerous former presidents and Rajapaksa officials – openly showing solidarity with Wickremesinghe. 

“(They are) calculating how to use the moment to personal advantage or for self-preservation – each still nurses ambitions of returning to power, including (the Rajapaksas),” wrote Himal Southasian magazine. “Many of them downplay the allegations against Wickremesinghe… as trivial. But this was not trivial for a country that was then and is still recovering from bankruptcy, with millions struggling to put food on the table.” 

“There is a quiet fear running through Sri Lanka’s political class, many of whom have been accused of misusing state funds or flouting the law in the past, but have never faced legal consequences, that the wheels of justice could grind them down next,” it added.  

Meanwhile, the ruling party also made good on another campaign promise last month when Sri Lanka’s lawmakers voted 151 to 1 to remove state funding for housing, allowances, pensions, transportation, office space, and staff support for former presidents and their widows. 

During a parliamentary debate on the measure, Justice Minister Harshana Nanayakkara said that former leaders in countries such as India, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the US receive some privileges because they continue “contributing to the public good.” 

“But what do some of ours do?” he asked. “They build palaces for their children and cling to power long after their terms end. What contribution are they really making to the country?”