S. Lanka rivals courting MPs

Rajapaksa closing in on ousted Wickremesinghe in latest count

COLOMBO:

Attempts to win over MP defectors intensified in Sri Lanka’s constitutional crisis amid growing pressure to let the suspended parliament hold a vote on the two rivals who each claim to be prime minister.

Ousted premier Ranil Wickremesinghe has refused to accept his sacking by President Maithripala Sirisena, who named former strongman president Mahinda Rajapaksa in his place.

Rajapaksa has eaten into Wickremesinghe’s majority amid warnings from pro-democracy and anti-corruption groups about the tactics being used.

A member of Wickremesinghe’s United National Party, S.B. Nawinna, became the latest to defect and was rewarded with the cultural affairs portfolio in Rajapaksa’s government.

A deputy from the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) party also switched sides and was made a deputy minister.

“We are expecting a few more defections on Saturday,” a source close to Sirisena said.

At least three more deputies from the TNA, which has 16 in the 225- member parliament, are expected to go over to Rajapaksa.

The TNA has still said it will back a motion against Rajapaksa that the UNP has submitted to be taken up when parliament does reconvene.

The TNA called Rajapaksa’s appointment on Oct 26 “unconstitutional and illegal”.

A statement from the party added that the alliance had “decided to vote in favour of the no-confidence motion against Rajapaksa”.

Tamil support is decisive for Wickremesinghe – who has remained bunkered in the official prime minister’s residence since his sacking, seeking to bolster his numbers in the assembly.

According to latest counts, Wickremesinghe has 103 MPs while Rajapaksa and Sirisena together have 100.

Most of the 22 remaining MPs, including the TNA, are likely to oppose Rajapaksa, observers said.

The minority Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) party, which has seven lawmakers, said its members had also rejected offers to join the Sirisena-Rajapaksa camp.