[ad_1]
His dismissal and the appointment of ex-president Mahinda Rajapakse "not legal"
In this file, photo taken on September 13, 2018, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe speaks at the World Economic Forum on ASEAN at the National Convention Center in Hanoi.
Colombo: Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremeshehe on Friday criticized the dismissal of his president by President Maithripala Sirisena, saying he would appear in court.
"This is not legal," he said, citing his dismissal and the appointment of Mahinda Rajapakse, a formerly controversial man, as president. "I will go to court."
Wickremesinghe said he still held the majority of the 225-member parliament, although the United Alliance for Freedom of the People of Sirisena withdrew from the coalition government shortly before his dismissal.
Earlier, Maithripala Sirisena on Friday named the country's new prime minister, Sri Lanka's controversial former leader, Mahinda Rajapakse, the president's office said on Friday.
Sirisena won the elections against Rajapakse in 2015 on a platform of economic reform and accountability for the atrocities committed during his government's 10-year rule at the end of the bloody civil war in Sri Lanka.
Colombo was about to face economic sanctions from Western countries as a result of Rajapakse's record of human rights before the loss of his government.
Sirisena's office announced last Friday that its former enemy had been appointed prime minister and that a private television channel loyal to Rajapakse had broadcast a hasty swearing-in ceremony.
However, the legality of this decision remains unresolved, as a constitutional amendment pbaded in 2015 had removed the power of the president to sack the prime minister.
"Rajapakse's appointment as prime minister is unconstitutional and illegal, and is an undemocratic coup", Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera wrote on Twitter shortly afterwards. announces his appointment.
The appointment of @PresRajapaksa like the Prime Minister is unconstitutional and illegal. It's an anti-democratic coup. #lka– Mangala Samaraweera (@MangalaLK) October 26, 2018
This surprise decision comes after disagreements between Sirisena and the deposed prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, about economic policy and the day-to-day management of the government.
Wickremesinghe, who helped Sirisena defeat Rajapakse in the 2015 elections, had no news at the moment. He has been away from the president ever since.
Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena's party resigned Friday from the country's ruling coalition, a senior minister said, pointing to serious doubts about the government's future.
"The UPFA (United People's Alliance for Freedom) has left the coalition government," said Sirisena's Minister of Agriculture, Mahinda Amaraweera.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and his office made no immediate comment.
[ad_2]
Source link
