Sri Lanka political crisis deepens with parliament suspended after prime minister sacked

Posted

October 28, 2018 10:09:29

A constitutional crisis in Sri Lanka has deepened as President Maithripala Sirisena temporarily suspended Parliament a day after sacking the prime minister and replacing him with a former leader seen as being close to China.

Mr Sirisena fired prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and swore in former president Mahinda Rajapaksa as his replacement late on Friday in a move cheered by Mr Rajapaksa’s supporters but described as a coup by opponents.

Under Sri Lanka’s constitution, the president has executive powers while the prime minister heads parliament.

The President’s order to suspend Parliament until November 16 was widely seen as an attempt to stop Mr Wickremesinghe from trying to prove he maintains a parliamentary majority even after Mr Sirisena pulled his party out of the ruling coalition.

Mr Wickremesinghe says he is still prime minister and, shortly before the suspension was announced, he had urged the speaker to convene a session to prove his majority.

“I have the majority in the Parliament, convene the Parliament to resolve this,” Mr Wickremesinghe told a news conference in Colombo, flanked by all his coalition partners except Mr Sirisena’s party.

At least one lawmaker from Mr Wickremesinghe’s party, Ananda Aluthgamage, said he would now back Mr Rajapaksa and told reporters at least another 20 legislators also planned to change sides.

Under the constitution, the president can appoint a new prime minister if the current premier loses parliamentary control.

Sources said a new cabinet would be sworn in soon.

GL Pieris, an opposition leader and ally of Mr Rajapaksa, said Parliament’s suspension was aimed at facilitating the establishment of a new government.

“The Parliament has to allocate new seats … we can’t arrange all these in one or two days. We need time,” he said.

The shutdown means the country’s national budget will not be released as scheduled on November 5 and Mr Pieris said the new administration would work with a temporary budget for now.

Celebrations and protests

Firecrackers were set off in celebration in Colombo late on Friday as Mr Sirisena administered the oath of office to Mr Rajapaksa, while Mr Wickremesinghe was off touring the country’s south.

Hundreds of angry supporters of Mr Wickremesinghe turned to his official residence to express their solidarity to their leader, a four-time prime minister.

“Sirisena is a traitor. He let our leader down despite us bringing him to power,” one of the supporters said.

Media and Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera called Mr Wickremesinghe’s ouster “an anti-democratic coup”.

The crisis comes against a backdrop of weakening economic growth and follows months of infighting in the ruling coalition, and badysts say the heightened uncertainty could roil markets.

Relations between Mr Wickremesinghe’s United National Party (UNP) and Mr Sirisena’s United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) became strained after Mr Sirisena criticised Mr Wickremesinghe for not adequately investigating an badbadination plot targeting the president.

The UPFA had threatened to quit the ruling coalition.

Mr Sirisena accused Indian intelligence services of involvement in the plot, a claim denied by New Delhi and Colombo.

India, which has long seen Sri Lanka, located just off its southern tip, as part of its area of influence, has not yet commented on the crisis.

The Foreign Ministry did not respond to a request seeking comment on Mr Rajapaksa’s appointment.

India has been concerned about Mr Rajapaksa’s ties to China.

As president, he ushered in billions of dollars of investment from Beijing to help rebuild the country following the end of a 26-year-long civil war against Tamil separatists in 2009.

That investment has since put the island nation deep in debt and forced it to hand over control of a strategic southern port to China, drawing criticism from India and the United States.

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