Sri Lanka Political Crisis: Big Boost For Wickremesinghe, Parliament Votes Against Rajapaksa Govt

The Sri Lankan parliament on Wednesday voted against the Mahinda Rajapaksa government, giving a major boost to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who was sacked by President Maithripala Sirisena on October 26. Sirisena had appointed former strongman Rajapaksa as the new premier.

The parliament has approved a no-trust vote against Prime Minister Rajapaksa, speaker of parliament Karu Jayasuriya announced in the House. “According to the voice, I recognise that the government has no majority,” Jayasuriya announced as Rajapaksa backers protested, reported AFP.
The parliament was convened today after an interim order by the country’s Supreme Court which overturned Sirisena’s controversial decision to dissolve the parliament and halt the preparations of snap polls in January next year. A floor test was conducted to determine whether the President appointed Prime Minister Rajapaksa has a majority in the 225-member parliament.

Sirisena dissolved Parliament after it became clear that he lacked support from lawmakers to install Rajapaksa as the new prime minister following the sacking of Wickremesinghe as premier. While sacking Wickremesinghe, president Sirisena had also suspended Parliament till November 16.

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