COLOMBO : A constitutional crisis in Sri Lanka deepened on Saturday as President Maithripala Sirisena temporarily suspended parliament a day after sacking the prime minister and replacing him with Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Sirisena fired Ranil Wickremesinghe and swore in former President Mahinda Rajapaksa as his replacement late on Friday in a move cheered by Rajapaksa’s supporters but described as a coup by opponents.
The president’s order to suspend parliament until Nov. 16 was widely seen as an attempt to stop Wickremesinghe from trying to prove he maintains a parliamentary majority even after Sirisena pulled his party out of the ruling coalition.
Wickremesinghe says he is still prime minister and, soon before the suspension was announced, he had urged the speaker to convene a session to prove his majority.
“I have the majority in the parliament, convene the parliament to resolve this,” Wickremesinghe told a news conference in Colombo on Saturday, flanked by all his coalition partners except Sirisena’s party.
At least one lawmaker from Wickremesinghe’s party, Ananda Aluthgamage, said he would now back Rajapaksa and told reporters at least another 20 legislators also planned to change sides.
