Who was to blame for Sri Lanka’s crisis? | Head to Head
Who is to blame for Sri Lanka’s crises?
Mehdi Hasan debates Sri Lanka’s Ranil Wickremesinghe on his presidency, Easter bombings and civil war.
When Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country in 2022 amid mass protests and an economic crisis, parliament elected veteran politician and six-time Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as the replacement.
As president, Wickremesinghe negotiated the country’s biggest bailout, but his critics say he is part of an establishment that turned a blind eye to war crimes and corruption and hindered the fundamental changes protesters demanded.
Mehdi Hasan goes Head to Head with Wickremesinghe on his violent response to protests, his handling of the 2019 Easter bombings, and whether he did enough to hold the powerful Rajapaksa family accountable.
Joining the discussion are:
Frances Harrison – Former BBC Sri Lanka correspondent, author of Still Counting the Dead, and director of International Truth and Justice Project
Nirj Deva – Former UK and EU MP and presidential envoy to Wickremesinghe
Madura Rasaratnam – Executive director, PEARL and senior lecturer at City, University of London.