Sri Lanka: Parliament adopts a vote of no confidence against Prime Minister Rajapaksa



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COLOMBO: The Sri Lankan Parliament on Wednesday pbaded a no-confidence motion against the government led by its controversial Prime Minister, Mahinda Rajapaksa, against President Maithripala Sirisena.

Parliament met on Wednesday for the first time since October 26, when President Sirisena dismissed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and suspended Parliament, plunging the island country into a crisis.

Speaker of Parliament Karu Jayasuriya announced that a majority of the 225-member Assembly had supported the motion of censure against Rajapaksa, who had been appointed prime minister by Wishanesinghe on October 26 by the President Sirisena.

"By voice, I admit that the government does not have a majority," Jayasuriya announced in the House as Rajapaksa's supporters protested.

He made his decision after the motion of censure was taken for a vote. The president calculated the votes based on votes when Rajapaksa supporters disrupted the debate.

Jayasuriya then adjourned the meeting at 10 o'clock on Thursday.

Sajith Premadasa, Deputy Leader of the United National Party (WFP), told reporters that the government had clearly lost the ground test.

He said that Prime Minister Rajapaksa must now withdraw, because he did not have the support of the majority in Parliament.

Wednesday morning's unexpected meeting comes one day after the Supreme Court on Tuesday quashed President Sirisena's controversial decision to dissolve Parliament and put an end to the preparations for the instant polls on January 5th.

In its judgment, the Supreme Court declared that the dissolution of the Parliament of Sirisena would be suspended until December 7 and that it would consider all motions filed after the President's decision next month before pronounce definitively.

After the court verdict, President Jayasuriya convened the session of Parliament for Wednesday morning.

Sirisena dissolves Parliament after it became apparent that he had no support from lawmakers to install Rajapaksa as prime minister after the dismissal of Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister.

During the dismissal of Prime Minister Wickremesinghe, President Sirisena also suspended Parliament until 16 November. He however advanced the convening of the House to November 14, under international and national pressure against the movement.

The main political parties, including the Unified National Party and Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna and a member of the Ratnajeevan Hoole Electoral Commission, dragged Sirisena to the Supreme Court on Monday, challenging his decision by filing petitions against the movement, which have been raped. the Constitution.

Sirisena dissolved Parliament last week, almost 20 months before the end of his term, and ordered early elections on January 5, plunging the country into an unprecedented political and constitutional crisis.

Wickremesinghe claimed that his dismissal by Sirisena was unconstitutional and illegal and that he was still prime minister.

Wickremesinghe had asked that Parliament be convened to hold a vote among legislators to decide who had the support of the majority in Parliament to be the prime minister.

As the pressure increased and both sides claimed to have the numbers, the Speaker dissolved Parliament and called for elections.

To prove his majority, Rajapaksa needed the support of at least 113 parliamentarians in the Chamber of Deputies.

Sirisena vigorously defended on Sunday his decision to dissolve Parliament, claiming that it was taken to prevent clashes between rival legislators. According to him, clashes would have taken place between the politicians during the preliminary test that was to take place on 14 November.

Rajapaksa, 72, who led Lanka for nearly 20 years in 2005, was suddenly beaten by his deputy Sirisena in the January 2015 presidential election with the support of Wickremesinghe's UNP .

However, the power-sharing agreement between Sirisena and Wickremesinghe has become increasingly tenuous on several policy issues, particularly on issues such as the economy and security. And subsequently, Sirisena brutally ousted Wickremesinghe and replaced him with Rajapaksa.

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