Former Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa is planning to break away from the ruling coalition, his brother announced on Thursday (November 17), a move that could threaten constitutional reforms seen as crucial to postwar reconciliation. Basil Rajapaksa formed a new party earlier this month to challenge president Maithripala Sirisena, who ousted his brother from power in January 2015 after a bitterly fought election. On Thursday he said the former strongman leader would defect from the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) that he once led to head the new party. Sirisena formed a unity government with the right-wing United National Party…
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