2 min readNew DelhiNov 14, 2018 12:15 PM IST
First published on: Nov 14, 2018 at 11:05 AM IST
Colombo : Sri Lanka’s sacked prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe (File AP Photo)
The Sri Lankan parliament on Wednesday passed a “no-confidence” motion against the Mahinda Rajapaksa government, giving a major boost to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who was sacked by President Maithripala Sirisena on October 26. Sirisena had appointed former strongman Rajapaksa as the new premier.
Rajapaksa’s allies said they could not accept the vote, shouting “this is illegal”.
“According to the voice, I recognise that the government has no majority,” Speaker of parliament Karu Jayasuriya announced as Rajapaksa backers protested, reported AFP.
The parliament was convened today after an interim order by the country’s Supreme Court which overturned Sirisena’s controversial decision to dissolve the parliament and halt the preparations of snap polls in January next year. A floor test was conducted to determine whether the President appointed Prime Minister Rajapaksa has a majority in the 225-member parliament.
Sirisena dissolved Parliament after it became clear that he lacked support from lawmakers to install Rajapaksa as the new prime minister following the sacking of Wickremesinghe as premier. The parliamentary speaker has called the president’s sacking of the prime minister to bring a former leader back to power a non-violent coup d’etat.
Rajapaksa, under whose rule Sri Lanka achieved its 2009 victory in a decades-long conflict against rebels from the Tamil minority, is seen as a hero by many among Sri Lanka’s Buddhist majority. He has been accused by diplomats of human rights abuses during the war, which he denies, reported Reuters.
Colombo : Sri Lanka’s sacked prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe (File AP Photo)
Share
