1 Dead in Sri Lanka Shooting As Constitutional Crisis Escalates
Sacked Prime Minister digs in at official residence despite eviction amid heightening tension
Aconstitutional crisis griping Sri Lanka since the president’s shock dismissal of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe erupted into violence on Sunday, with a man shot dead and two others injured in Colombo.
Police said bodyguards for a Sri Lankan Cabinet Minister allied to Mr Wickremesinghe opened fire inside a government ministry as a mob loyal to President Maithripala Sirisena besieged the minister’s office.
Three people were injured but a 34-year-old man died shortly after. It was the first fatality since Mr Sirisena sacked Mr Wickremesinghe on Friday and installed a former strongman as Prime Minister, triggering political chaos in the Indian Ocean nation.
Mr Wickremesinghe has refused to vacate the PM’s official residence, barricading himself inside as over 1000 supporters, including chanting Buddhist monks, rallied outside.
The 69-year-old says his sacking is illegal, and wants an emergency session of Parliament held to prove he still commands a majority. Mr Sirisena shut Parliament for nearly three weeks to forestall any challenge to his appointment of Mahinda Rajapakse, a former president accused of wartime abuses. Mr Rajapakse sought blessings at a prominent Buddhist temple on Sunday as he jostled to consolidate his claim to the prime ministership. But Mr Wickremesinghe got a boost as Sri Lanka’s parliamentary speaker refused to endorse his sacking.
Speaker Karu Jayasuriya backed Mr Wickremesinghe’s request to retain his privileges and security until another candidate could prove a majority in Parliament, saying it was “democratic and fair”.
He also warned the President that shuttering Parliament risked “serious and undesirable consequences for the country”. Opposition leader Rajavarothiam Sampanthan urged Jayasuriya to summon parliament immediately.
“I hereby call upon yourself to uphold the rule of law by summoning Parliament... to perform its legitimate functions,” said Sampanthan, who represents Sri Lanka’s minority Tamil community.
Officials loyal to Rajapakse said Police will now seek a court order to evict Mr Wickremesinghe from the residence, threatening to escalate the standoff.
Soldiers had been stationed near the residence, although Mr Wickremesinghe’s security and official cars were withdrawn on Saturday. Tensions high Tensions were high across Colombo, with Police leave cancelled amid warnings street violence could break out if the president did not immediately summon parliament to end the impasse.
“Don’t try to create a civil war in this country,” party legislator Karunarathna Paranawithana told reporters at the PM’s residence. Regional neighbours and Western nations have urged all sides to exercise restraint and respect the constitution. Shooting But violence broke out inside the petroleum ministry as Police guarding Minister Arjuna Ranatunga fired on a mob which had surrounded his office. Witnesses saw Mr Ranatunga, 54, also a former World Cup winning cricket captain, rushed from the scene in a tactical helmet and body armour by Police commandos.
In his first televised address to the nation since the crisis began, Mr Sirisena said on Sunday he sacked Wickremesinghe over personal and political disputes.
“Apart from our ideological differences, we also had serious cultural differences,” Mr Sirisena said, referring to Mr Wickremesinghe’s liberal background and his own rural conservative upbringing. He said he had no choice but to appoint Mr Rajapakse, and urged parliament to support him. Loyalists of Mr Rajapakse -- whose controversial decade-long rule was marked by grave allegations of rights abuses, the crushing of the Tamil Tiger uprising, and growing authoritarianism -- were appointed on Sunday to run the country’s two state-run television channels and a newspaper.
Mr Rajapakse is yet to make a formal statement since being elevated to the new post.
The strongman is seen as being closer to China than Mr Wickremesinghe, who had sought to re-establish stronger ties with traditional ally and regional power India. The United States and European Union ambassadors have called on the Sri Lankan rivals to follow the constitution and avoid violence. AFP Feedback: jyotip@fijisun.com.fj