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COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – Sri Lankan President Mathripala Sirisena on Saturday suspended Parliament for two weeks as he sought to strengthen his support for overthrowing the country's prime minister, compounding the political crisis.
Sirisena suspended the work of Parliament after firing Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Friday, a decision that many lawmakers and ministers denounced as unconstitutional. Mr Sirisena was sworn in as Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, a former popular president who has been accused of human rights violations and corruption for a decade in power.
Mr. Wickremesinghe had a defiant tone, saying that he was still Prime Minister. "Call Parliament and I will prove it," he said.
On Saturday afternoon, many members swore to remain loyal to Mr. Wickremesinghe, demanding that an official count be taken before Parliament to determine who had a majority in the House. It was when Mr. Sirisena announced that he was suspending Parliament. He also fired leaders of several government institutions and replaced them with loyalists.
To win a majority in Parliament, Sirisena must get a little over half of the 225 seats in parliament to form a new government with Rajapaksa's party. A tally on Saturday hinted that they only occupied 98 seats.
But Namal Rajapaksa, legislator and son of the former president, said by phone that the numbers were favorable to them.
"Of course, we have more than 130 seats in Parliament, that's for sure," Rajapaksa said. "We are already working on our policies to stabilize the economy and ensure social stability."
Mr. Sirisena was a member of the Cabinet of Mahinda Rajapaksa's government until he broke away from the ruling party to form a coalition with Mr. Wickremesinghe in order to challenge the 2015 elections, which they won by a narrow majority.
In the run-up to the elections, the coalition promised to investigate alleged war crimes and corruption under the mandate of Rajapaksa, who simultaneously served as President and Minister of Finance, including in the government, while ministers of the economy and ports.
But these investigations have fallen behind under the union government. The Rajapaksa family denies any wrongdoing, labeling the allegations as lies perpetrated by their political opponents.
But acrimonious divisions finally condemned the unity government, which was consumed by bitter internal conflicts between Mr Sirisena and Mr Wickremesinghe. Sri Lankans became dissatisfied with economic stagnation and social unrest, including sectarian violence.
It remains to be seen whether Mr Sirisena will face a popular reaction. Rajapaksa is very popular in the country, but this is the first time since Sri Lanka gained independence from Britain that power has been unconstitutionally transferred, observers said.
Namal Rajapaksa, the son of the former president, remained confident, adding that the majority of Sri Lankans supported the new government because the previous cabinet had failed to govern effectively.
"If you talk to people who voted for the union government, they all agree that there is no unity in the government of the United States. 39, union, "he said. "But now you will have stability with the new government. People can oppose us, but in the end we will come to a solution to economic and social instability. "
Sirisena's party could now join Rajapaksa's party, Namal Rajapaksa said, giving the family a chance to regain power in next year's presidential elections.
