THE ongoing political crisis in the South Asian island nation Sri Lanka has depended further as its Parliament yesterday passed a no-confidence motion against newly appointed Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and his government. That means, the majority Sri Lankan lawmakers unanimously voted to remove Mr Rajapaksa – who was controversially appointed PM by President Maithripala Sirisena on October 26 after expelling the then PM Ranil Wickremesinghe and his cabinet from their posts.
The political uncertainty virtually paralysed the Sri Lanka for the past fortnight. And the move came a day after the Supreme Court overturned a Presidential decree dissolving the legislature and calling for snap elections. Speaker Karu Jayasuriya ruled that a majority of the 225-member assembly supported a no-confidence motion against Mr Rajapaksa.
The allies of Rajapaksa said they were refusing to recognise the legitimacy of no-confidence vote. The United States, European Union and other members of the international community have raised concerns over the crisis.
An MP and son of purported PM, Namal Rajapaksa, said the Speaker wanted them to decide who’ll be the PM over the huge noise in the Parliament. If the Speaker wants to select a PM, then he needs to show 113 votes to the President. On the other hand, Mr Wickremesinghe said he had submitted a petition with the signatures of 122 MPs who supported the no-confidence motion. At least five MPs who had previously expressed support for Mr Rajapaksa have crossed over to Mr Wickremesinghe’s side.
But the Parliamentary result does not automatically mean that Mr Wickremesinghe, whose United National Party is the biggest in Parliament, has won the constitutional showdown. President Sirisena retains the power to choose the next PM. As Sirisena and Wickremesinghe’s fragile coalition has deteriorated in the last one and a half years; the President was trying to protect his job by allying himself with Rajapaksa, a pro-Chinese politician and his former party colleague.
At present, the political uncertainty has been fuelling confusion over who commands state machineries such as the police and public service. Mr Wickremesinghe has asked all government servants and police not to carry out “illegal orders from the purported government”. What is most interesting is that, after the no-confidence motion it is now totally unclear who, if anyone, is Sri Lanka’s lawful PM, at present. Surely, there is a power vacuum now.
The political uncertainty virtually paralysed the Sri Lanka for the past fortnight. And the move came a day after the Supreme Court overturned a Presidential decree dissolving the legislature and calling for snap elections. Speaker Karu Jayasuriya ruled that a majority of the 225-member assembly supported a no-confidence motion against Mr Rajapaksa.
The allies of Rajapaksa said they were refusing to recognise the legitimacy of no-confidence vote. The United States, European Union and other members of the international community have raised concerns over the crisis.
An MP and son of purported PM, Namal Rajapaksa, said the Speaker wanted them to decide who’ll be the PM over the huge noise in the Parliament. If the Speaker wants to select a PM, then he needs to show 113 votes to the President. On the other hand, Mr Wickremesinghe said he had submitted a petition with the signatures of 122 MPs who supported the no-confidence motion. At least five MPs who had previously expressed support for Mr Rajapaksa have crossed over to Mr Wickremesinghe’s side.
But the Parliamentary result does not automatically mean that Mr Wickremesinghe, whose United National Party is the biggest in Parliament, has won the constitutional showdown. President Sirisena retains the power to choose the next PM. As Sirisena and Wickremesinghe’s fragile coalition has deteriorated in the last one and a half years; the President was trying to protect his job by allying himself with Rajapaksa, a pro-Chinese politician and his former party colleague.
At present, the political uncertainty has been fuelling confusion over who commands state machineries such as the police and public service. Mr Wickremesinghe has asked all government servants and police not to carry out “illegal orders from the purported government”. What is most interesting is that, after the no-confidence motion it is now totally unclear who, if anyone, is Sri Lanka’s lawful PM, at present. Surely, there is a power vacuum now.
