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

COLOMBO: The sacked Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, Ranil Wickremesinghe, warned that time was running out to avoid a "bloodbath", while hoping that Parliament would resolve a damaging constitutional crisis in the coming days.

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

President Maithripala Sirisena was sacked outright on October 26, in place of former domineering president Mahinda Rajapakse.

However, Wickremesinghe refuses to accept his dismissal and has not left the vast Temple Trees residence of the colonial era – where Buddhist monks are now singing prayers to the outside. – since.

Sirisena also suspended Parliament in an apparent attempt to prevent any opposition to his decision, thus aggravating the turmoil that claimed the lives of at least one man killed by gunfire during a week-long shootout -end last.

"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 echo the fears of the Speaker of Parliament, Karu Jayasuriya, who warned against the bloodshed that would take place on the streets if lawmakers do not vote to decide between the two leaders.

Wickremesinghe, leader of the United National Party, who is already the largest group in parliament, has also called for such a vote and is trying to rally his allies to the cause.

But by preventing Parliament from meeting, Rajapakse – still popular despite his energetic tactics to end the civil war and accusations of Tamil corruption – has had more time to gain support.

Wickremesinghe says he hopes the confrontation will end peacefully and is optimistic about finding a solution to the crisis.

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

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

The two parties signed on Friday a petition addressed to the Speaker of Parliament requesting the convening of the convening of a meeting of 225 members on November 7.

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

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

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

In addition to the political pressure exerted on Sirisena, civil society groups are stepping up their efforts to uphold the constitution, Wickremesinghe said.

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

The divorce of their coalition was inevitable after a little 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 senior lawyer who favored a liberal economy, to be dictatorial and to ignore the president of the government.

Wickremesinghe replied by baderting 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 a 2015 presidential election, but have since split apart from economic policy and daily decisions.

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

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