Lankan parliament to submit a motion to show confidence in the deposed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan Parliament will take up a motion to express
confidence in ousted prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe next
week, officials said on Thursday, as the political crisis following
his controversial sacking by the president intensified.
The motion has been listed for which no dates have been fixed,
parliamentary officials said.
Parliament meets next on December 12 and the day's business is to
be determined on the same day. If there is no firm indication, it
will be taken up on that day, they said.
Sri Lanka
is going through a major political crisis since October 26 when
President Maithripala Sirisena, in a
controversial move, removed Wickremesinghe and installed
ex-strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa in his
place.
The president on Wednesday said that the current political crisis
will not drag on beyond a week even as a war of words between him
and Wickremesinghe intensified.
On Monday, a lower court temporarily barred Rajapaksa from
performing his duties after which he filed an appeal before the
Supreme Court.
The interim ruling was a major blow to both President Sirisena and
Rajapaksa.
Sirisena, after sacking Wickremesinghe on October 26, dissolved
Parliament and called for a snap election on January 5. However,
the Supreme Court overturned his decision and halted the
preparations for snap polls.
Sirisena said that he has always taken decisions in the best
interest of the country and the people.
In his strongest yet statement against the president, United
National Party (UNP) leader Wickremesinghe on Tuesday said the
United National Front (UNF) was prepared to face elections and they
are "not afraid of elections."
The ousted premier also urged the president not to "be like Hitler
and some of the other dictators who used the referendum."
Sirisena has said in the past that Wickremesinghe is a stubborn,
headstrong person who was following far right wing neo-liberal
policies.
As many as 122 parliamentarians of Wickeremesinghe's UNP, Janatha
Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and Tamil National Alliance
last month filed a petition in the court of appeal challenging
Rajapaksa's authority as the prime minister.
Wickremesinghe and Rajapaksa both claim to be the prime ministers
with the former claiming that his dismissal is invalid because he
still holds a majority in the 225-member Parliament.
Prior to the crisis, Wickramasinghe's UNP had the backing of 106
parliamentarians while Rajapaksa and Sirisena combine had 95
seats.
Rajapaksa has, so far, failed to prove his majority in
Parliament.
The president has said that due to sharp personal differences with
Wickremesinghe, he would not reappoint him as the prime
minister.
However, Wickremesinghe's UNP claims that Sirisena will be left
with no choice as he would be the man who will command the
confidence in the House.
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