In a major setback to President Maithripala Sirisena, the Sri Lankan parliament on Wednesday voted against newly-appointed Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa's government.
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.
Earlier on Tuesday, Sri Lanka' Supreme Court overturned Sirisena's dissolution of Parliament and ordered a halt to preparations for snap elections on January 5, party officials present at the hearing said.
A three-member bench including the country's chief justice Nalin Perera delivered its ruling after two days of deliberations on as many as 13 petitions against and five for Sirisena's November 9 decision to dissolve Parliament.
All petitions filed against Sirisena's decision will be heard on December 4, 5 and 6, the apex court ruled.
Sirisena had dissolved the Parliament and ordered snap election, plunging the country into an unprecedented political and constitutional crises since October 26 when he sacked prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.
The Sri Lankan President appointed Mahinda Rajapaksa as the country’s new Prime Minister. But Wickremesinghe and other constitutional experts questioned the validity of the decision and have refused to accept Rajapaksa as the Prime Minister, plunging the Sri Lankan into a political crisis.
PTI