COLOMBO: The political crisis in Sri Lanka, with a large number of MPs belonging to a key coalition partner leaving the government, has forced President Maithripala Sirisena to prorogue parliament till May 8.
The prorogation decision on Thursday midnight came as a surprise, as just hours earlier the president had sworn-in four cabinet ministers to partially fill vacancies created by the defection of 16 SLFP members to the opposition.
The gazette notification issued by the president said: “By virtue of the powers vested in me by Article 70 of the Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, I, Maithripala Sirisena, President, do by this Proclamation, prorogue Parliament with effect from the midnight of the Twelfth day of April, Two Thousand Eighteen, and fix the Eighth day of May, Two Thousand Eighteen, as the date for commencement of the next session of Parliament.”
The 16 MPs of the ruling SLFP who defected to the opposition are critics of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s right wing policies, his handling of the economy and blame him for appointing Arjuna Mahendran as governor of the Central Bank who subsequently became the kingpin of the billion rupee bond scam.
The dissident MPs had voted last week for the no-confidence motion (NCM) against Wickremesinghe moved by the opposition led by former president Mahinda Rajapaksa.
The rebels, who are actually supporters of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was the earlier head of SLFP, had been campaigning for the removal of Wickremesinghe.
Meanwhile, going back on their earlier pledge to President Sirisena, the 16 rebel members of parliament to SLFP have hinted that they are contemplating forming an alliance with the opposition and Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) leader and former president Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Published in Dawn, April 14th, 2018
