A large anti-government protest took place in Colombo on Saturday (May 7) as Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa declared a state of emergency and police have used force against peaceful protesters. Sri Lanka is suffering the country's worst economic crisis in recent memory.

The event in Galle Face Green in the capital marked one month since the start of calls for the president to step down.

The apolitical protest staged at Galle Face Green, Colombo to urge the government and the President to step down marks one month today. The protest commenced last month with the participation of a large number of people including youths from across the island. The protesters, who set up tents near the Presidential Secretariat, are still engaged in demonstrations day and night.

Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa declared a state of emergency giving security forces sweeping powers for the second time in five weeks to deal with escalating anti-government protests. A spokesman for the President said he invoked the tough laws to "ensure public order" after trade unions staged a nationwide strike Friday demanding his resignation over a worsening economic crisis. The state of emergency gives the police and the security forces sweeping power to arbitrarily arrest and detain people. The decision came amidst weeks of protests demanding the resignation of the President and the government, blaming the powerful Rajapaksa clan for mishandling the island nation's economy, already hit by the pandemic.