Sri Lanka’s PM faces no- confidence motion

Wickremesinghe has resisted calls to resign from President Sirisena

Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe faced a no- confidence motion yesterday that has widened a rift in the ruling coalition and worsened political turmoil in the island nation.

Wickremesinghe has resisted calls to resign from President Maithripala Sirisena, whose Sri Lanka Freedom Party had threatened to vote against the prime minister over an alleged scandal in the bond market.

The motion was expected to be put to a vote later yesterday after a marathon debate, but even if Wickremesinghe narrowly survives allegiances within the ruling parties could be fractured. Sirisena joined hands with Wick re me sing he’ s United National Party to oust strongman president Mahinda Rajapakse in January 2015 after a decade in power.

But the pair have since been embroiled in a power struggle, especially over economic policy, which has sowed divisions in leadership.

Sirisena publicly blamed the free- market champion for mismanaging the economy as Sri Lanka’s growth plunged to a 16- year low of 3.1 per cent in 2017.

Amultibillion bond scandal at Sri Lanka’s central bank, which fell under Wickremesinghe’s portfolio until Sirisena removed it last month, only deepened the acrimony.

The prime minister was cleared of wrongdoing but accused of trying to protect a former central bank governor named as a suspect.