President of Sri Lanka suspends parliament after sacking prime minister

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – The Sri Lankan president suspended his proceedings on Saturday after his sacked prime minister claimed he had the support of a majority of voices, compounding the growing political crisis in the island nation of Asia. South.

Chaminda Gamage, a spokesman for the speaker of parliament, confirmed that President Maithripala Sirisena had suspended Parliament until 16 November.

The suspension came as the sacked prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, held a press conference during which he said he could prove his majority support in parliament.

Sirisena dismissed Wickremesinghe and his cabinet on Friday and replaced him with former strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa, creating what some observers have described as a constitutional crisis.

The suspension of parliament should give Rajapaksa time to try to gather enough support to survive a vote of confidence.

Several members of Rajapaksa's family – former cabinet members and senior government officials – face corruption charges and a special high court was set up to hear cases quickly. Rajapaksa's appointment as prime minister is expected to bring relief.

Wickremesinghe told the press conference that Parliament should be allowed to resolve the political crisis.

"With regard to the post of Prime Minister, the person who has the support of the majority in Parliament must be the Prime Minister, and I have this majority of support," he said. "When a motion of censure had been moved (in the past), we rejected it, showing that the house trusted me."

"It's not necessary for us to create a crisis. There is no need for the inhabitants of the country to suffer, "Wickremesinghe said.

An official at the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said New Delhi "is aware of the situation and is monitoring the situation closely."

Sri Lanka became a center of Indo-Chinese rivalry for control of the Indian Ocean region during Rajapaksa's presidency, which displayed strong pro-Chinese tendencies. His government has planned the sale of land on an artificial island being developed by China with a $ 1.5 billion investment.

But the possibility of China's presence in a region separated from Indian territory by the Palk Strait only upset India.

Wickremesinghe, who was in charge of the economy as prime minister, canceled the clause of the agreement with Beijing authorizing absolute land ownership.

Tensions have been building between Sirisena and Wickremesinghe for some time, as the president has not approved some of the economic reforms introduced by the Prime Minister. Sirisena also criticized the investigations of soldiers accused of human rights violations during Sri Lanka's protracted civil war.

Rajapaksa chaired Sri Lanka as the country's presidency for nine years starting in 2005, accumulating immense power and popularity among the largely Sinhalese population after overseeing the military defeat of the Tamil rebels in May 2009, ending 25 years of civil war. Some supporters hailed him as a king and a savior.

But he has also been criticized internationally for not allowing the opening of an investigation into allegations of war crimes by the military. Under his government, dozens of journalists were killed, kidnapped and tortured and some fled the country, fearing for their lives.

Sri Lanka is deeply marked by the civil war between the Sinhalese Buddhist majority and the Tamil rebels, who were largely Hindu and called for a separate nation.

The government, led by Rajapaksa, and the defeated rebels of the Tamil Tiger have been accused of serious abuses committed during the war. A US report indicates that nearly 40,000 Tamil civilians may have been killed in the last months of the war.

After winning the war, Rajapaksa imposed himself to change the constitution by removing a two-term presidential term, allowing him to stay in power for life. He also badumed the power to appoint election officials and the anti-corruption commission, as well as judges.

His ruthless attitude towards the dissidents, the sumptuous lifestyle of his three sons and the nepotism that allowed his brothers to dominate in many key institutions gradually eroded Rajapaksa's popularity, resulting in his defeat. in his candidacy for a third term in 2015.

However, the people's enthusiasm for the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government that came to power in what was called a "bloodless revolution" quickly began to evaporate.

Despite some key democratic reforms, the new government has failed to punish the alleged criminals of the Rajapaksa government – the main promise he came to power – to stem corruption in his own ranks and to act on the economic front.

Hundreds of Wickremesinghe supporters rallied outside his home on Saturday, waving party flags and denouncing Sirisena and Rajapaksa.

"We are the people who brought him to power and he is now trying to overthrow our prime minister," said Priyantha Perera, 54, who works for himself. "He forgot how our party and its leaders helped him. He is politically bankrupt. "