Big boost for Wickremesinghe, Sri Lanka parliament votes against Rajapaksa govt

Colombo, Nov 14: Sri Lanka parliament on Wednesday voted against the controversially appointed government of Mahinda Rajapaksa Wednesday, a day after the Supreme Court overturned a presidential decree dissolving the legislature.

The vote came after the parliament met under tight security, after the top court ruled its dissolution illegal and opened the door to a vote on which of two rival prime ministers has the support to rule.

Speaker Karu Jayasuriya ruled that a majority of the 225-member assembly supported a no-confidence motion against Rajapaksa who was appointed prime minister on October 26 in place of Ranil Wickremesinghe.

The news comes as a major boost to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who was sacked by President Maithripala Sirisena on October 26.

Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed President Maithripala Sirisena's decision to dissolve parliament until next month in a further twist in the country's political crisis.

Sri Lanka was thrown into chaos when President Maithripala Sirisena dissolved parliament on November 9. He called for a general election in January 2019 in an unprecedented move that will likely plunge the country deeper into a constitutional crisis.

Parliament's dissolution, anticipated and mocked by many, was announced in an official gazette notification signed by Sirisena.

After dissolving the parliament, president Sirsena, on 9 November, announced snap elections in Sri Lanka and the new parliament to be convened on 17 January.

President Sirisena suspended parliament immediately after his October 26 decision to sack Wickremesinghe, a move that was being seen as to allow Mahinda Rajapaksa to muster the 113 seats required for majority.

Rajapaksa has so far won 9 defections, still short of 113 to prove his majority in the 225-member House.