Sri Lankan Parliament to take up motion to express confidence in deposed prime minister

Sri Lankan Parliament is set to take up a motion to express confidence in ousted prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe next week.

The parliament is set to meet on December 12.

The political crisis in the island nation, which was triggered after president Maithripala Sirisena sacked Wickremesinghe and replaced him with Mahinda Rajapaksa, has only intensified following a war of words between Sirisena and Wickremesinghe. But the president on Wednesday (5) said the crisis would not go beyond a week.

Earlier this week, in his strongest yet statement against the president, Wickremesinghe likened Sirisena to Hitler.

“The president has to appoint me prime minister as I command a majority in parliament,” he said, according to AFP. “I am telling the president not to act like Hitler who bypassed the constitution… We are not going to allow him to do that.”

Wickremesinghe’s supporters still control a majority in parliament and Rajapakse has lost two votes of confidence.

On Monday (3), a Sri Lanka court denied Rajapakse the authority to act as prime minister and stripped his cabinet of their powers. Rajapakse has been given time till December 12 to prove his legitimacy.

The court of appeal said, “irreparable damage” could be done to the nation if Rajapakse was allowed to remain as head of government.

Sirisena, meanwhile, has refused to reappoint Wickremesinghe as prime minister.

“I will not appoint Ranil Wickremesinghe as prime minister in my lifetime. Even if they have a majority, I have told them not to propose him as I won’t appoint him as prime minister,” Sirisena told foreign media.