US and Japan freeze billions in development aid to Sri Lanka after Wickremesinghe ousted as prime minister
- US has held off on a nearly US$500 million aid programme for building of motorways and Japan put on hold plans to extend a soft loan of US$1.4 billion
- President Sirisena fired Wickremesinghe after months of tensions within the government, plunging the nation into a political crisis
Sri Lanka’s deposed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said the United States and Japan had frozen more than a billion dollars of development aid after his abrupt dismissal raised doubts about the future of democracy in the island.
The move to hold back project financing, along with the EU’s warning it could withdraw duty-free concessions for Sri Lankan exports if it didn’t stick to commitments on national reconciliation, will further strain the economy, Wickremesinghe said.
President Maithripala Sirisena fired him last month after months of tensions within the government and appointed Mahinda Rajapaksa as premier in a shock move that has plunged the nation into a political crisis.
Rajapaksa is a former president who led the country to a military defeat of Tamil separatist guerillas in 2009 but who has since faced widespread allegations of human rights abuse and targeting of Tamil civilians.
Wickremesinghe, who has challenged his dismissal and vowed to remain prime minister until parliament voted him out, said there were international concerns about a government led by Rajapaksa.
“Countries are sensitive, they have concerns [about a government led by Rajapaksa] democratic countries have concerns,” he said in the interview conducted in the prime minister’s official residence in a colonial-era bungalow where Wickremesinghe is camping along with his supporters.