UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe. (Photo: Reuters)Sri Lanka protests Live: Sri Lanka’s opposition lawmaker Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in as the next Prime Minister of the country on Thursday. With the country’s largest opposition party refusing to join a government under the presidency of Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Wickremesinghe — a four-time Prime Minister of the country — remained the only option.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa has defied calls to resign, pledging instead to form a new government after violent clashes this week left eight people dead in an escalation of a months-long crisis over food and fuel shortages. His brother Mahinda Rajapaksa had quit as prime minister leading to the dissolution of the cabinet, leaving no government in place to negotiate with the International Monetary Fund and creditors on $8.6 billion of debt due this year. President Rajapaksa had said to “control the current situation, and prevent the country from heading towards anarchy”, he would appoint a Prime Minister and cabinet “that can command a majority in Parliament and can gain the confidence of the people of the country”.
Meanwhile, a Sri Lankan court Thursday issued a travel ban on erstwhile prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, his son Namal Rajapaksa and 15 others. Mahinda is currently under protection at the Trincomalee naval base. The Fort Magistrate’s Court barred them from travelling overseas due to the investigations taking place on the attacks on the GotaGoGama and MynaGoGama peaceful protest sites on Monday, Reuters quoted media reports as saying.
Vehicles of Sri Lanka's ruling party supporters are seen in a lake after being pushed into the water during a clash of pro and anti-government demonstrators near the Prime Minister's official residence in Colombo, Sri Lanka, May 10, 2022. (Reuters)
Newly sworn-in Prime Minister of Sri Lanka Ranil Wickremesinghe, after visiting a temple in Colombo, said: “We are facing a crisis, we have to get out of it.” (Reuters)
Following the appointment of Ranil Wickremesinghe as the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, the Indian High Commission said it “looks forward to working with the new government formed in accordance with democratic processes”. “India's commitment to people of Sri Lanka will continue,” the High Commission added. (PTI)
Sri Lanka’s stocks index on Thursday jumped over three per cent after being closed for two days on the speculation of the appointment of a new Prime Minister and political stability in the island nation.
Sri Lankan Parliament will debate a no-confidence motion against President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on May 17, the Speaker's Office confirmed on Thursday, amid the ongoing political turmoil triggered by the worst economic crisis plaguing the debt-ridden country. The decision was taken during the party leaders' meeting on Thursday. The motion would be taken up for debate after obtaining special approval from Parliament, the Daily Mirror newspaper reported.
UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe was administered the oath as the new Prime Minister of Sri Lanka by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Thursday. The 73-year-old had taken his oath of office, according to the media office of the President, who faces widespread protests demanding his resignation over the country's worsening economic crisis.
Underlining that Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) is the largest opposition party in the country, Sri Lanka's Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa on Thursday said that his party will "devise a strategy" if United National Party (UNI) leader Ranil Wickramasinghe is made the prime minister of the country. In an exclusive interview with ANI, Sajith spoke about the letter he wrote to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in which he expressed willingness to assume the prime minister's post under some demands put forward by his party.
Amid hectic parleys to form a new government in Sri Lanka, Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa said on Thursday that he would accept President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's invitation to form a new government if he agrees to some conditions, including his resignation within a stipulated time period.
In a letter to the President on Thursday, 55-year-old Premadasa said that the Samagi Jana Balawegaya-led Opposition is willing to form a new interim government in Sri Lanka subject to conditions. “One of the conditions put forward by Sajith Premadasa is that the 19th Amendment to the Constitution should be implemented with the support of all political parties within two weeks. Further, President Gotabaya must resign within a stipulated time period,” local media reported, citing the content of the letter.
The third condition is that the President should work together with all the political parties to work towards abolishing the Executive Presidency via the 21st Amendment to the Constitution. The fourth condition is that the President must call for Parliamentary Elections to give the people an opportunity to elect a new stable government, following the implementation of the aforementioned constitutional reforms, establishing the rule of law, and returning the people's lives to normalcy.
Many Sri Lankans thronged buses in the main city Colombo to return to their hometowns during a brief relaxation in curfew.
Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka on Thursday categorically refused to accept any post in a government headed by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Fonseka, who is credited with the annihilation of the LTTE, strongly condemned any attempt to mislead the public through false propaganda after it was reported that the President had contacted Samagi Jana Balawegaya MP to offer premiership to him.
Sri Lanka's former prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who has just one seat in the 225-member Parliament, could become the next premier, media reports said on Thursday, amidst the worst economic crisis in the debt-ridden island nation.
The 73-year-old United National Party (UNP) leader held talks with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Wednesday and is expected to meet him again on Thursday, the Colombo Page newspaper reported. Wickremesinghe, who has served as the country's prime minister for four times, was in October 2018 fired from the post of prime minister by then President Maithripala Sirisena. However, he was reinstalled as the prime minister by Sirisena after two months.
According to political sources, members of the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna, a section of the main Opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya and several other parties have expressed their support to show majority for Wickremesinghe in Parliament, it said. The report said that Wickremesinghe will be sworn in as the new prime minister on Thursday or Friday. UNP chairman Vajira Abeywardena has said that Wickremesinghe will be able to get a majority in Parliament after being sworn in as the new prime minister, replacing Mahinda Rajapaksa, who resigned on Monday. (PTI)
A Sri Lankan court on Thursday imposed a travel ban on former prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, his son Namal Rajapaksa and 15 others in view of investigations against them for the deadly attack on anti-government protesters in Colombo this week.
The Fort Magistrate's Court barred them from traveling overseas due to the investigations taking place on the attacks on the GotaGoGama and MynaGoGama peaceful protest sites on Monday, News 1st website reported.
The order was also imposed on parliamentarians Johnston Fernando, Pavithra Wanniarachchi, Sanjeewa Edirimanne, Kanchana Jayaratne, Rohitha Abeygunawardena, C. B. Ratnayake, Sampath Athukorala, Renuka Perera, Sanath Nishantha, Senior DIG Deshabandu Thennakoon among others. (Reuters)
Sri Lanka's former prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who has just one seat in the 225-member Parliament, could become the next premier, media reports said on Thursday, amidst the worst economic crisis in the debt-ridden island nation.
The 73-year-old United National Party (UNP) leader held talks with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Wednesday and is expected to meet him again on Thursday, the Colombo Page newspaper reported.
According to political sources, members of the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), a section of the main Opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) and several other parties have expressed their support to show majority for Wickremesinghe in Parliament, it said.
The report said that Wickremesinghe will be sworn in as the new prime minister on Thursday or Friday.
UNP chairman Vajira Abeywardena has said that Wickremesinghe will be able to get a majority in Parliament after being sworn in as the new prime minister, replacing Mahinda Rajapaksa, who resigned on Monday. (PTI)
This Bloomberg report analyses what could happen next in Sri Lanka after the ouster of PM Mahinda Rajapaksa.
For a President to be impeached, first a resolution must be passed by two-thirds of parliament explaining why a president is unfit for office, then it must be investigated by the Supreme Court, and then if judges agree with th
The President could instead form a unity government with the Opposition.
He can also dissolve the Parliament and hold new elections. The constitution doesn’t allow the president to dissolve parliament until midway through its five-year term, which isn’t until February 2023. But it does allow the parliament to request a dissolution before then by passing a resolution.
He could resign and flee the country. Or there could be a military coup. Read the full analysis here.
Many Sri Lankans thronged buses in the main city Colombo on Thursday to return to their hometowns with leaders of political parties due to meet after the prime minister quit and went into hiding and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa warned of anarchy.
Hundreds of people thronged the main bus station in the commercial capital after authorities lifted an indefinite curfew at 7 am (0130 GMT). The curfew will be reimposed at 2 pm.
On Thursday, streets in the main city Colombo remained quiet, with some people venturing out to buy essential supplies.
Later in the day, leaders of political parties are to meet the speaker of the country's parliament to discuss the current situation. (Reuters)
His beloved villa has been daubed in graffiti by protesters, and a museum dedicated to his father ransacked. Now former Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa is in hiding in a heavily fortified military base, protected by the armed forces.
The reversal of fortunes for the island nation's most powerful politician for decades has been giddying. A scion of the Rajapaksa family beloved by many Sri Lankans for ending a protracted civil war, the 76-year-old is now a pariah.
An economic crisis, caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and economic mismanagement, has drained the country of money to pay for fuel, medicine and other vital supplies, meaning lengthy blackouts and long queues for gasoline. Food prices are soaring. Weeks of largely peaceful demonstrations demanding the prime minister and his younger brother, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, stand down, turned violent on Monday in the deadliest unrest so far - nine people were killed and over 300 injured.
The turmoil is the worst to hit Sri Lanka since the war ended in 2009. The small southern town of Weeraketiya, where Mahinda liked to stay while visiting the family stronghold of Hambantota district, was not spared. According to interviews with half a dozen eyewitnesses and police officers, the villa was the first stop on a night of vandalism targeting Rajapaksa properties. No family members were at the residences when they were attacked.
Some locals, however, continue to support the Rajapaksa brothers, who are seen as heroes among the island's Sinhalese Buddhist majority for snuffing out the Tamil insurgency. (Reuters)
Sri Lanka prisons have launched an investigation on the allegations raised claiming that a group of inmates from the Watareka Open Prison Camp were used to attack protestors in Colombo recently, Commissioner General of Prisons Thushara Upuldeniya was quoted as saying by the News First website.
Footage posted on social media following the attack on peaceful protests showed locals detaining a group of men who later claimed that they were prisoners from the Watareka Open Prison Camp, the report added.
It was observed that the pants worn by the group of detained men were identical to those worn by people who were among the group that attacked peaceful protests on Monday in Colombo.
The Commissioner-General of Prisons said that the men were not wearing prison fatigues, but were wearing a uniform provided to them by the institutions that employed their services.
The Commissioner-General of Prisons, and another officer will be present at the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka on Thursday for an inquiry over the matter. (AP)
Curfew was lifted in Colombo for a few hours Wednesday morning. The capital city had been locked down after violent clashes broke out between pro- and anti-government protesters and the police on Monday following Mahinda Rajapaksa's resignation.
In a televised address Wednesday, President Rajapaksa said, “I am taking steps to appoint within this week a new prime minister who has the trust of a majority in Parliament, who can win over the confidence of the people and a new Cabinet to control the current situation, to stop the country from falling into anarchy and to continue the government’s functions that are at a standstill.”
He added, “I will appoint a young cabinet without any of the Rajapaksas.”
The new government will be given the opportunity to present a new program and be empowered to take the country forward, he said. "Steps will be taken to amend the Constitution to re-enact the contents of the 19th Amendment to further empower the Parliament."
"Calls from various factions for the abolition of the executive Presidency will be considered. With the new government and their potential to stabilize the country, we will have an opportunity to discuss this and work towards a common consensus," he said.
🔴 President Rajapaksa vows to appoint new PM, Cabinet this week
🔴 Mahinda Rajapaksa provided protection at Trincomalee Naval Base
🔴 Defence Secretary denies speculations of military takeover
🔴 Central Bank Governor threatens to quit over political instability
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Following President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s announcement that he will appoint a new Prime Minister and Cabinet this week, the main Opposition party, Samagi Jana Balawegaya, is divided over the new leader. SJB’s Sajith Premadasa is unwilling to be the prime minister in the interim government under Rajapaksa, news agency PTI reported.
The party’s leading figure Harin Fernando told reporters that he had decided to remain independent of the party saying, “This is not a time to put conditions and shirk our responsibility, every passing minute without a government would be disastrous."
The SJB wrote a four-point letter to the President on Wednesday night. It included conditions like he should step down during a specified period of time; he should not interfere in the day-to-day running of the government; the Cabinet for the interim government needs to be appointed not at his wish and the executive presidency must be abolished.
If President Gotabaya Rajapaksa would be agreeable, Premadasa would become the prime minister.
The group, which became independent of the ruling coalition that had suggested three names for the premier, said they would agree with the President's choice.
“The President appoints the person who in his opinion could command the support of Parliament. So let him first make the appointment and we can consider when it reaches Parliament,” Anura Yapa, a legislator of the group, told PTI.