Sri Lankan Prime Minister ousted says there is not much time left to avoid a "bloodbath"

The sacked Sri Lankan prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, warned that time was running out to avoid a "bloodshed", while hoping that the parliament will manage to resolve a damaging constitutional crisis in the coming days.

Wickremesinghe, who is stuck at the prime minister's residence for more than a week as thousands of supporters gathered outside, told AFP in an interview that "people desperate "could cause chaos on the island of the Indian Ocean.

President Maithripala Sirisena was fired on 26 October. The outgoing President Mahinda Rajapakse, the former domineering president, was appointed in his place.

However, Wickremesinghe refused to accept his dismissal and did not leave since the huge Temple Trees residence of the colonial era – where Buddhist monks are now singing prayers at the same time. outside – since.

Sirisena also suspended Parliament in an apparent attempt to prevent any opposition to his decision, compounding the turmoil that claimed the lives of at least one man killed in a shootout last weekend, linked to the fight for the power.

"We will ask our people not to resort to violence," Wickremesinghe said Friday night. "But you do not know what's going on in a situation like this.

"Some desperate people can start a bloodbath."

His comments echoed the fears of the Speaker of Parliament, Karu Jayasuriya, who warned against the bloodshed on the streets if lawmakers do not hold a vote to decide between the two leaders.

Wickremesinghe, head of the United National Party, which is already the largest parliamentary group, has also called for such a vote and is trying to rally its allies to the cause.

But preventing parliament from meeting has given Rajapakse – still popular despite his energetic tactics to end the Tamil civil war and accusations of corruption – an even longer period of time to try to win support.

Wickremesinghe said he hoped the showdown could end peacefully and said he was optimistic about finding a solution to the crisis.

"I think Parliament is finally going to take it, it can not take too much time, I would say in a week to ten days at the most," he said, adding that the priority was to go ahead. establish the "supremacy" of parliament.

Wickremesinghe said two smaller parties – the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna and the Tamil National Alliance – supported his call for the convocation of Parliament despite the hurdles placed by Sirisena.

The two parties on Friday signed a petition to the Speaker of Parliament requesting the convening of the next 225-member badembly on 7 November.

"A majority of the parliament said all these actions (of the president) were not legitimate and did not comply with the constitution," Wickremesinghe said.

According to the latest figures, Wickremesinghe would have 103 MPs, while Rajapakse and Sirisena would have 100. Most of the remaining 22 MPs should support Wickremesinghe, observers said.

A majority of lawmakers want Sirisena to end the suspension of parliament by Wednesday and any delay is "against the will of all parties," Wickremesinghe said.

In addition to political pressure on Sirisena, civil society groups are also stepping up their efforts to ensure that the constitution is respected, Wickremesinghe said.

After sacking his prime minister, Sirisena addressed the nation and outraged Wickremesinghe, saying they could not work together because of serious personal and cultural differences.

A divorce from their coalition was inevitable after just over three years, said Sirisena. Wickremesinghe had planned a confrontation but not the bag.

"We knew that there would be problems somewhere in November, but it happened a little earlier than I thought," he added.

Sirisena accused Wickremesinghe, a pro-liberal lawyer, of being dictatorial and ignoring the cabinet president.

Wickremesinghe fought back saying that their personal rivalry was not an excuse for a constitutional war.

"The constitution does not provide for personality conflicts," he said. "In Cabinet, there are people you love and you may not like."

Wickremesinghe comes from an elitist family of urban ancestry, unlike Sirisena, born to a family of modest rural farmers.

They made a common cause to end Rajapakse's decade in power in the 2015 presidential election, but have moved away since economic policy and day-to-day decisions.

Sirisena also accused Wickremesinghe of being an autocratic leader of the UNP.

"He's not a member of the UNP," retorted Wickremesinghe. "He can say what he wants."