‘Shameful day’: Sri Lanka MPs fight in parliament as power struggle deepens | World news

Sri Lankan MPs have brawled on the floor of the country’s parliament, putting one in hospital, in the latest escalation of the political turmoil that has left the country without a prime minister or cabinet.

Dilum Amunugama, an MP, was admitted to hospital after the fiery sitting on Thursday morning which was abandoned after supporters of Mahinda Rajapaksa, the country’s disputed prime minister, rushed at the parliament’s speaker.

The speaker, Kura Jayasuriya, was surrounded by MPs loyal to Ranil Wickremesinghe, who was controversially dismissed from the prime ministership a fortnight ago in what his supporters say was a political coup.

The men, most dressed in white cotton robes, pushed and jostled each other. Some could be seen throwing punches and one MP hurled a waste paper basket in the speaker’s direction. When a few fell, others could be seen kicking them. Amunugama, a Rajapaksa loyalist, was cut as he tried to take the speaker’s microphone.

The speaker, Rajapaksa and Wickremesinghe all eventually left the chamber as the fighting continued.

Harsha de Silva, an MP from Wickremesinghe’s United National party, said the violence was “the most shameful day in parliament”.

The sitting commenced amid uncertainty over whether Sri Lanka has a prime minister at present. On Wednesday, MPs had pbaded a no-confidence motion in Rajapaksa, who was hastily installed in office last month by the country’s president, Maithripala Sirisena.

Sirisena had fallen out with Wickremesinghe, but has been unable to summon enough votes in parliament to formally oust his former coalition partner from power. Instead, he has sought to force him out by dissolving parliament and declaring an election – a move that was temporarily halted by the country’s supreme court earlier this week.

Sirisena said on Wednesday night that he refused to accept that day’s no-confidence vote, leaving a power vacuum in the Indian ocean nation.

“According to the no-confidence vote held yesterday, there is no prime minister or cabinet of ministers as of now as all those posts are invalidated by the vote,” Jayasuriya told parliament.

In a speech in parliament on Thursday morning, amid jeers and shouts of support, Rajapaksa said he had stepped into the prime ministership to rescue the country from Wickremesinghe’s poor and corrupt leadership. “We expect the speaker to be an independent speaker and not a close friend of your party or the west,” Rajapaksa said. “We want a general election.”

After the speech, the speaker attempted to hold a vote for MPs to endorse or reject the remarks, but was unable to do so after MPs loyal to Rajapaksa rushed to approach his chair, were resisted by Wickremesinghe’s supporters, and the fighting broke out.

The badembly has been adjourned until 21 November.