Sri Lanka crisis as prime minister refuses to leave
Sri Lanka’s speaker of parliament on Sunday recognised Ranil Wickremesinghe as the lawful prime minister, three days after his sacking by the president threw the Indian Ocean island into constitutional chaos.
Wickremesinghe has refused to vacate the prime minister’s official residence since being controversially deposed on Friday, declaring his dismissal illegal and demanding an emergency session of parliament to prove he still commands a majority.
A thousand-strong crowd of supporters, including chanting Buddhist monks, has massed outside the residence in Colombo, where a defiant Wickremesinghe has been holding crisis talks with loyalists.
Elsewhere, his successor, former strongman Mahinda Rajapakse, sought blessings at a temple ahead of naming a new cabinet as he jostles to consolidate his claim to the prime ministership.
Officials said police would now seek a court order to evict Wickremesinghe from the res- idence, threatening to escalate the standoff.
All police leave was cancelled amid heightened tensions in Colombo, with soldiers seen near the prime minister’s residence and president’s office.
Regional neighbours and Western nations have urged all sides to exercise restraint and respect the constitution.
But the political saga took another twist as parliamentary speaker Karu Jayasuriya backed Wickremesinghe’s request to retain the privileges and security of prime minister until another candidate could prove a majority.
“I consider the said request to be a democratic and fair request,” Jayasuriya said in a letter addressed to President Maithriring pala Sirisena. Wickremesinghe’s security and official cars were withdrawn by Sirisena on Saturday, as the ousted prime minister called for a vote in parliament to prove his right to hold office.
Instead, Sirisena shut parliament for nearly three weeks to forestall any challenge against Rajapakse’s appointment.
Jayasuriya warned the president that shuttering parliament risked “serious and undesirable consequences for the country” as it reeled from constitutional turmoil.
Loyalists to Rajapakse, whose decade-long rule was marked by grave allegations of rights abuses and growing authoritarianism, still control two state-run television channels.
Rajapakse’s aides said he was likely to name a few cabinet ministers later on Sunday and begin work on Monday. He is yet to make a formal statement or address the nation since being elevated to the new post.
A controversial figure, Rajapakse presided over the crushing of the decades-long Tamil Tiger uprising.
Wickremesinghe’s party has the largest number of seats in the parliament.
This is the second time that a president has ousted Wickremesinghe from office.
In 2004, the then head of state sacked him. After winning the premiership a third time in August 2015, Wickremesinghe amended the constitution to remove the president’s power to sack prime ministers to prevent a repeat of his earlier ouster.