[ad_1]
Sri Lankan civil rights activists hold placards during a protest outside the official residence of deposed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Sunday, November 4, 2018. Sri Lankan Prime Minister deposed Ranil Wickremesinghe, said Friday that there was credible evidence of his replacement. attempt to buy support to Parliament before the vote of confidence expected in its resumption. (AP Photo / Lahiru Harshana)
Colombia, Sri Lanka – The Sri Lankan president on Sunday ordered that the parliament meet again on November 14, when legislators will have the opportunity to hold a vote of confidence on the former strongman of the nation, appointed prime minister.
The announcement made in a decree comes amidst a political crisis in this island nation of South Asia, caused by the dismissal by President Maithripala Sirisena of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and his cabinet, who had been replaced by Mahinda Rajapaksa last month.
Sirisena suspended Parliament in an apparent attempt to give Rajapaksa time to gather his support to survive any vote of no confidence.
Political opponents, advocacy groups and foreign governments, including the United States and the European Union, urged Sirisena to immediately convene Parliament and end the crisis. Thousands of Sri Lankans also demonstrated in the capital last week demanding that Sirisena summon Parliament immediately.
Sirisena said that he had proceeded to the replacement in part because Wickremesinghe and a cabinet colleague were behind a so-called plot to assassinate him. The details of the alleged conspiracy were not disclosed and Wickremesinghe repeatedly denied the prosecution.
Sirisena's actions sparked a power struggle that some observers have described as a constitutional crisis.
Since his ouster, Wickremesinghe has stayed at Temple Trees, the prime minister's official residence, insisting that he is still the legitimate leader because he has the support of the majority in Parliament.
Wickremesinghe said in an interview with the AP that there is credible evidence that Rajapaksa's party is trying to buy support for parliament. The United Nations Party legislator, Palitha Range Bandara, said that he had been offered millions of dollars and a portfolio of ministers he was passing. Legislators of Rajapaksa's party denied the allegations.
Tensions between Sirisena and Wickremesinghe have increased for some time, with the president not approving the economic reforms introduced by the prime minister.
Sirisena also criticized the investigations of soldiers accused of human rights violations during the long civil war that ended in Sri Lanka in 2009. Rajapaksa is considered a hero by Sri Lankan ethnic majority of Sri Lankan. Lanka for ending the conflict.
