Parliament rejects Sri Lanka Prime Minister
No-confidence motion passed against Mahinda Rajapaksa, the returning hardliner whose position is disputed
Sri Lanka’s Parliament yesterday passed a no-confidence motion against newly installed Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, in the latest twist in the South Asian island’s political crisis.
The country was plunged into deeper political turmoil after the vote, which left it without a recognised leader. Mr Rajapaksa’s supporters said they would not recognise the vote because it had not been scheduled.
Speaker Karu Jayasuriya said the no-confidence vote was supported by 122 members of the 225-member house.
“A majority voted in favour of the no-confidence motion and thus the no-confidence motion was passed,” Mr Jayasuriya said.
He had already protested against the moves, calling the president’s sacking of the previous prime minister to bring a former leader back to power a non-violent coup.
It was not clear what President Maithripala Sirisena, who started the crisis by dismissing Ranil Wickremesinghe last month, would do now.
The president dissolved parliament last week and ordered elections for January as a way to break the deadlock, but the Supreme Court ordered a suspension of that decree on Tuesday until it had heard petitions challenging the decree as unconstitutional.
After the ruling was announced, hundreds of opposition supporters who had gathered near the court cheered and lit firecrackers.
Amid mounting pressure from political opponents and foreign governments, including the US and the EU, to convene Parliament to end the impasse, Mr Sirisena said the legislature would return yesterday but instead he tried to dissolve parliament.
Mr Rajapaksa had not gathered enough support in parliament to secure a majority and the president’s moves were seen as a delaying tactic.
A controversial figure who served as Sri Lanka’s president from 2005 to 2015, Mr Rajapaksa is widely viewed as a strongman populist who crushed dissent when in power.
He ended the civil war with the Tamil Tigers through a bloody offensive and now has undermined Sri Lankan democracy with his re-emergence on the country’s political scene.
Mr Wickremesinghe has remained at the official prime minister’s residence, known as Temple Trees, surrounded by supporters and refuses to leave.
The no-confidence motion does not guarantee that he will be restored as the country’s premier because Mr Sirisena retains the power to choose the next prime minister. But Mr Wickremesinghe celebrated the decision and said he would continue with his job.
“We will now take steps to ensure that the government in place before October 26 will continue,” he tweeted.
“I wish to inform all government servants and police that you cannot carry out illegal orders from the purported government that has failed to demonstrate the confidence of the people.”
Under the constitution, the president has to appoint a prime minister who in his opinion can command the majority in parliament.
But Mr Sirisena, who had a fractious relationship with the man he would oust, has said he would never appoint Mr Wickremesinghe to the job again.
Mr Rajapaksa’s son Namal, also an MP, said the vote had not been put on the day’s business and therefore was invalid. Father and son left the chamber before the vote was taken and their supporters shouted slogans in support, including “this is illegal”.
But western powers and constitutional experts have warned that Mr Sirisena’s decision was outside the confines of the constitution, making it an illegal move in one of Asia’s oldest democracies.
The crisis has paralysed the running of the country and threatened serious damage to the tourism-dependent island.
Yesterday, the central bank unexpectedly raised its key policy rates, a move aimed at defending a faltering rupee as foreign capital outflows picked up. But the currency slid further to a record low.
Highlighting the tumultuous state of Sri Lankan politics, Mr Sirisena was an ally who turned against Mr Rajapaksa for the 2015 race – before changing allegiance again to make him his prime minister last month.
The crisis has paralysed the running of the country and threatened serious damage to the tourism-dependent island