One killed as shots are fired amid Sri Lanka political crisis
Speaker backs ousted PM’s request to retain privileges until someone can prove a majority
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One man died and two others were injured when shots were fired yesterday in Sri Lanka, as a constitutional crisis over the shock sacking of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe turned violent.
Bodyguards for Petroleum Minister Arjuna Ranatunga, a Wickremesinghe loyalist, fired live rounds as a mob allied to the president threatened the cabinet member, police said.
It was the first report of serious violence since President Maithripala Sirisena sacked Wickremesinghe on Friday and installed a former strongman as the new prime minister, triggering political chaos in the Indian Ocean nation.
Wickremesinghe has refused to vacate the prime minister’s official residence since being controversially deposed, declaring his dismissal illegal and demanding an emergency session of parliament to prove he still commands a majority.
Defiant
Over 1,000 supporters and loyalists, including chanting Buddhist monks, massed outside the colonial-era residence in Colombo where a defiant Wickremesinghe has been holding crisis talks with allies.
Elsewhere, his successor Mahinda Rajapakse, a former president, sought blessings at a temple ahead of naming a new ■ cabinet, as he jostles to consolidate his claim to the prime ministership.
Officials loyal to Rajapakse said police will now seek a court order to evict Wickremesinghe from the residence.
Regional neighbours and western nations have urged all sides to exercise restraint and respect the constitution.
Soldiers had been stationed near the prime minister’s residence — although his security and official cars were withdrawn on Saturday — but the shooting at the petroleum ministry was the first reported instance of violence breaking out.
Embattled Wickremesinghe received a boost yesterday as Sri Lanka’s parliamentary speaker Karu Jayasuriya refused to endorse his sacking. The speaker backed the ousted prime minister’s request to retain his privileges and security until another candidate could prove a majority, saying it was “democratic and fair.”
Wickremesinghe called for a vote in parliament to prove his right to hold office — but instead Sirisena shut parliament for nearly three weeks to forestall any challenge against Rajapakse’s appointment.
Serious consequences
Speaker Jayasuriya warned the president that shuttering parliament risked “serious and undesirable consequences for the country”.
Others feared the crisis could degenerate into street violence if the president did not immediately summon parliament to end the impasse.