Sri Lanka president sacks PM, installs former strongman

Maithripala Sirisena installed Sri Lanka’s controversial former strongman leader Mahinda Rajapakse as the country’s new prime minister, the president’s office said, in a surprise move announced moments after the incumbent premier was sacked.

Sirisena won elections against Rajapakse in 2015 on a platform of economic reform and accountability for atrocities committed during his opponent’s 10-year rule at the close of Sri Lanka’s bloody civil war.

Colombo was on the verge of facing economic sanctions from Western nations over Rajapakse’s human rights record before his government lost office.

Sirisena’s office said late yesterday that his former foe had been appointed prime minister, and a private TV channel loyal to Rajapakse broadcast a rushed swearing-in ceremony.

But questions remain over the legality of the move, as a constitutional amendment passed in 2015 had taken away the president’s power to sack the prime minister.

“The appointment of Rajapakse as the Prime Minister is unconstitutional and illegal. This is an anti-democratic coup,” Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera wrote on Twitter shortly after the appointment was announced.

The surprise move comes after disagreements between Sirisena and ousted Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe over economic policy and day-to-day administration of the government.

There was no immediate word from Wickremesinghe, who helped Sirisena defeat Rajapakse in the 2015 elections but has drifted apart from the president since.

The pair were reported to have clashed in Cabinet last week over government plans to lease a container terminal to neighbouring India.

Earlier this year, Sirisena reneged on a pledge not to run for re-election, sparking tensions with Wickremesinghe who is believed to have his own presidential ambitions.