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Mahinda Rajapakse (left) was sworn in by Maithripala Sirisena as Sri Lankan Prime Minister.
The President of Sri Lanka issued a notice on Saturday that Ranil Wickremesinghe resign as Prime Minister and acknowledge his dismissal.
Hours after sacking his former ally, President Maithripala Sirisena published gazettes formalizing the dramatic gesture and the installation of new Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse as prime minister.
However, Wickremesinghe continued to occupy Temple Trees, the official residence of the prime minister, and insisted in a letter to Sirisena to inform him that he was still in office.
He stated that he could only be dismissed by Parliament, where his party enjoyed a majority, and also promised to take legal action against what he said. he condemned as an unconstitutional measure against him.
"I'm addressing you as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka," Wickremesinghe told the press at a press conference broadcast by the national press on Friday night. "I remain Prime Minister and I will perform my duties as Prime Minister."
Since he has sworn in hastily, Rajapakse has not yet announced the formation of a cabinet – which, according to the constitution, is automatically dissolved when a prime minister is removed.
Parliament Speaker Karu Jayasuriya announced that he would decide Saturday whether or not to recognize Rajapakse after seeking legal advice.
Parliament must not meet before November 5, when the 2019 national budget must be presented. The Supreme Court, which is empowered to resolve constitutional disputes, is closed for the weekend and will reopen on Monday.
The president's party, the United Alliance for the Freedom of the People, resigned on Friday from the governing coalition with the Wickremesinghe party.
Rajapakse also asked Wickremesinghe to retire Friday night outside his home in Colombo.
Members of his party must "respect democracy, the country and the law," said the former president by a loudspeaker from a balcony.
United States Urge Calm
Overnight, Rajapakse The Loyalists stormed two state-owned television stations – that's the only one in the world. they consider themselves loyal to the outgoing government – and forced them to leave the airwaves.
Video footage of private networks shows police officers overwhelmed by the crowd on the national television channel Rupavahini, but in the streets of the capital, the rest remained calm.
The United States called on all parties in Sri Lanka to abide by the constitution and abstain from violence, and urged the island to make progress on the road to reconciliation. 39; after the war.
Rajapakse suppressed the Tamil Tiger uprising that lasted several decades.
"We call on all parties to act in accordance with Sri Lanka's constitution, to refrain from any violence and to respect due process," said the State Department.
"We expect the Government of Sri Lanka to meet the commitments made in Geneva regarding human rights, reform, accountability, justice and reconciliation."
After the election of Sirisena in 2015, Sri Lanka went from confrontation to conciliation with Western powers and promised. at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva to investigate allegations of violations.
(With the exception of the title, this story was not published by NDTV staff and was published from a syndicate ed.) [19659023] (function (d, s, id) {var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName (s) [0]; if (d.getElementById (id)) return; js = d.createElement (s) js.id = id ; js.src = "http://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.5&appId=213741912058651";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);} (document, & # 39; script; & # 39; facebook-jssdk & # 39;));
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