The state of public emergency declared by the President has been extended for another month, according to a Gazette notification issued by the Secretary to the President, Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake, on Tuesday (April 28).
The notification cites the ongoing disaster situation caused by Cyclone Ditwah and the need to safeguard public security, the normal functioning of the country, and the supply of essential services. The state of emergency was originally declared on November 29, 2025 in the wake of the cyclone, which killed 646 people and caused $4.1 billion in damage.
A separate Extraordinary Gazette designating 15 categories of services as “essential services” was extended in parallel. The list covers electricity and fuel; health services and ambulances; water; food; irrigation; public transport and roads; district secretariats, divisional secretariats and field officers; the Central Bank of Sri Lanka; state banks and insurance services; telecommunications, telephone and media; low-land reclamation; and agriculture and agricultural insurance.
This is the second extension of the same emergency framework. Parliament approved the first extension on April 9 by a 110-vote majority, with 137 members voting in favour and 27 against. Opposition benches at the time warned against routine renewal of emergency powers, but the government argued the framework was needed to manage fuel rationing, cyclone recovery and shipping disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz.
A subsequent Pakistan-brokered US–Iran ceasefire on April 8 eased the most acute fuel-supply pressures, but the cyclone recovery operation remains the government’s stated rationale for keeping the emergency framework in place. The Public Security Ordinance grants the executive broad powers to direct the security forces and regulate movement, supply and pricing while the proclamation is in force.
