Sri Lanka grinds to political halt

– Sri Lanka appeared to have ground to a political halt yesterday, with the speaker of parliament saying there was no functioning prime minister or Cabinet after a no-confidence vote the previous day.

His comments came after weeks of political turmoil in the island, off the southeast coast of India, culminating in noisy chaos on the floor of parliament yesterday.

Parliament passed the no-confidence motion against recently appointed Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and his government with the backing of 122 of the 225 lawmakers in a voice vote, followed by a signed document. – Reuters

Colombo