President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has extended Sri Lanka’s state of emergency through a fresh Extraordinary Gazette Notification issued under the Public Security Ordinance, with effect from May 28, The Island reported on Saturday.
The extension keeps existing emergency regulations in force across the country and authorises the government to take measures relating to public security, public order and the maintenance of essential services, official sources cited by the paper said. The duration of the extension and the specific provisions have not yet been officially announced.
The instrument is distinct from the separate Extraordinary Gazette the President issued on May 28 under the Essential Public Services Act No. 61 of 1979, which declared 14 categories of public services essential. The Essential Public Services Act criminalises strikes or absenteeism in listed sectors; the Public Security Ordinance is the broader instrument under which the state of emergency itself operates.
The state of emergency has now been rolled forward repeatedly since President Dissanayake first invoked it in late November 2025 following Cyclone Ditwah, which killed hundreds, displaced nearly 290,000 people at peak and damaged infrastructure across all 25 districts. Parliament approved earlier extensions, including a 137-6 vote on April 9 and a 145-6 third extension on May 7. The May 28 instrument will require parliamentary ratification within 14 days under the Public Security Ordinance.
Sri Lanka has now been operating under emergency rule for six months, the longest sustained period since the closing years of the civil war.
Update — June 9: Parliament on Tuesday approved the extension of the State of Public Emergency by a 128-vote majority, Newswire reported, with 135 MPs voting in favour and 7 voting against. The ratification falls within the 14-day parliamentary window required under the Public Security Ordinance and keeps the emergency regulations issued under the May 28 gazette in force for a further month.
