Warning of a ‘bloodshed’ as Lankan crisis deepens

Mahinda Rajapaksa on Monday assumed charge as Sri Lanka’s new Prime Minister even as defiant Ranil Wickremesinghe asserted that he still commands the majority in parliament amid warning by the Speaker that there could be “bloodbath” on the streets if the political crisis is not resolved immediately.

Rajapaksa assumed the duties in the prime minister's secretariat which was not used by the ousted prime minister Wickremesinghe.

President Maithripala Sirisena's new Cabinet was also sworn in and Rajapaksa was named the new minister of finance and economic affairs.

The new Cabinet was limited to just 12 ministers, one minister of state and one deputy minister. Among the new ministers, three belonged to the ousted Wickremesinghe's United National Party (UNP) who have defected.

The rest of the ministers are from Sirisena's previous Cabinet with Wickremesinghe who have been given same portfolios which they had handled under the unity government.

One new addition is from the northern district of Jaffna, Douglas Devananda, a Tamil who has been named the Minister of Resettlement, Rehabilitation, Northern Development and Hindu Religious Affairs.

Devananda while in opposition had backed Wickremesinghe during the no trust motion in April which Wickremesinghe won to retain his premiership with support coming from Tamil and Muslim minority parties.

PHOTO:REUTERS Police escort deposed oil minister Arjuna Ranatunga to a court, in Colombo. Ranatunga, under whose leadership Sri Lanka had won the cricket World Cup in 1996, was arrested in connection with the death of one person in a violent incident on Sunday during the ongoing political crisis in the country