Sri Lankan president Maithripala Sirisena’s announcement that he is dissolving Parliament to pave the way for fresh elections on January 5 reflects what a mess he has made by sacking Ranil Wickremesinghe as prime minister and seeking to legitimise former president Mahinda Rajapaksa as the new premier. Clearly, despite all efforts to cobble together a majority, the strength of Sirisena’s and Rajapaksa’s coalition in Parliament on Friday stood at 106, seven short of the simple majority mark. The sacking of Wickremesinghe had indeed brought upon Sri Lanka a constitutional crisis which Sirisena has clumsily been trying to get over.
The dissolution has come some 21 months ahead of scheduled polls in August 2020 and could well fail the test of judicial scrutiny under the 19th amendment to the Constitution in which the president has been barred from sacking a prime minister or dissolving parliament before the expiry of its four and a half year’s term. “We vehemently reject the dissolution of parliament. He has robbed the people of their rights”, the Wickremesinghe-led United National Party (UNP) said in a statement. Wickremesinghe, who dubbed his earlier sacking as a “constitutional coup”, has refused to vacate his official residence, saying he is the lawful prime minister and that the president has no constitutional right to replace him. The Speaker, too, has refused to cooperate with Sirisena in bringing in Rajapaksa through the back door, asserting that he would swear in Rajapaksa only after he passes the floor test. After Wickremesinghe’s sacking, Sirisena suspended parliament until November 16. It was to allow Rajapaksa to muster the 113 seats required to prove his majority. Rajapaksa, however, remains short of the ‘magic number’ 113 required to prove his majority in Parliament, his spokesman acknowledged on Friday. The assembly speaker wanted the floor test to take place on November 14 but Sirisena ordered dissolution knowing that their attempt to cobble together a majority had failed.
If Sirisena’s dissolution of Parliament is deemed unconstitutional, there is no knowing how the crisis would be defused. Having to restore Wickremesinghe would be too big a climbdown for Sirisena though Wickremesinghe has said he is prepared to work under President Sirisena. Rajapaksa, too, is no pushover. Having been president earlier, he is ultimately eyeing that position again after the next presidential elections. He has the strong backing of China which had been using him to push Sri Lanka into a debt trap when Rajapaksa was president. That is also the reason why the US, the West and India look upon him with deep suspicion and many Sri Lankans, too, are wary of his return to power.
-Editorial