Sri Lankan leader suspends parliament

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka’s president suspended Parliament until Feb. 8, when he said he would announce a new set of long-term policies to address a range of issues including an economic crisis that has engulfed the Indian Ocean nation for months.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe issued an extraordinary decree suspending Parliament from midnight Friday.

The government did not give a clear reason for the move, but Wickremesinghe’s office in a statement said his address to lawmakers Feb. 8 will announce new policies and laws, which will be implemented until the centenary celebrations of Sri Lanka’s independence in 2048.

It is also widely expected that Wickremesinghe would announce his policies on sharing power with ethnic minority Tamils.

Unsustainable debt from a severe balance-of-payment crisis on top of lingering scars of the covid-19 pandemic have led to a severe shortage of essentials. There’s been a growing public anger over the government’s recent move to increase taxes and electricity bills in an apparent bid to obtain a bailout package from the International Monetary Fund.