Political crisis deepens in Sri Lanka

A POLITICAL crisis has deepened in Sri Lanka after President Mathripala Sirisena on Saturday suspended Parliament for two weeks as he sought to shore up support to unseat the Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. The PM was ousted by the President on Friday though many lawmakers and ministers denounced the move as unconstitutional. Mr Sirisena was replaced with Mahinda Rajapaksa, a popular former leader who was accused of human rights abuses, brazen nepotism and excessively close ties to China when he governed the country. International media reported that Mr Wickremesinghe was claiming that he was still Prime Minister. “Convene Parliament, and I will prove it,” he said.
 By Saturday afternoon, many lawmakers were vowing to stick by Mr Wickremesinghe, demanding that a formal count be taken in Parliament to determine who held a majority in the House. That’s when Mr Sirisena announced that he was suspending Parliament. He also dismissed the leaders of several government institutions, replacing them with loyalists. What is significant is that, this is the first time since Sri Lanka earned independence from British rule that power has been handed over unconstitutionally. Political analysts say Mr Sirisena’s party may now join with Mr Rajapaksa’s party, giving him a good shot at reclaiming power in Presidential elections next year.
Now, Mr Sirisena needs to secure just over half of the 225 seats to clinch a majority in Parliament and form a new government with Mr Rajapaksa’s party. But local political circles in a tally suggested they held only 98 seats.
 Mr Sirisena was a cabinet member in Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government until he broke from the ruling party to form a coalition with Mr Wickremesinghe to contest the 2015 elections, which they won by a slim majority. In the run-up to the elections, the coalition promised to investigate alleged war crimes and corruption during the tenure of Mr Rajapaksa, who simultaneously served as President and Finance Minister, among other cabinet positions, while his three brothers served as the defense secretary and ministers of economy and ports.
It’s clear that, Sri Lanka is now facing constitutional crisis due to bitter infighting between two power-hungry politicians — Mr Sirisena and Mr Wickremesinghe. Sri Lankans have grown unhappy with the economy stagnating and social unrest breaking out, including outbursts of sectarian violence in the recent days. Now they will have to face political uncertainty too.