Sri Lanka: Sirisena says Wickremasinghe was taking service to nation as fun game

Colombo, Oct 28: Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena addressed the nation in the night on Sunday, October 28, in which he defended the act of appointing former president Mahindra Rajapaksa as the new prime minister of Sri Lanka saying it was completely constitutional.

In his prolonged speech, the 67-year-old said while Ranil Wickremasinghe, who he sacked as the premier on Friday, October 26, claimed that the move was in violation of the country's supreme law, he believed it was "totally in accordance with the Constitution and the advice of legal experts". He said he rejected the charges made by the ouster premier and his party - the United National Party.

Sirisena in his speech recalled the journey that his unity government with Wickremasinghe had started in January 2015 when Rajapaksa was defeated in the presidential election.

"On January 08, 2015, it was with so many expectations what nearly six million and two hundred thousand (6.25 million) people of my country chose me as your first servant and the leader of this nation. I wish to pledge that I will always fulfil the expectations and honour the trust and faith you have placed on me, even at the cost of my life," Sirisena said.

Sirisena defended himself saying he always took risky decisions for the betterment of the country and his latest move on October 26 was no exception. He accused Wickremasinghe of "belittling" the electoral victory which was achieved at the cost of "risking" his life. He also blasted the ousted the PM saying he belonged to a privileged class and was completely cut off from understanding the people's pulse. He alleged that Wickremasinghe and his group of closest friends "conducted themselves as if shaping the future of the country was a fun game they played".

"I feel that Hon Wickremesinghe grossly violated the very principles of good governance we pledged to uphold," Sirisena said.

He said although he appointed the 69-year-old Wickremasinghe as the prime minister despite the latter having only 47 members in the parliament, corruption became rampant and let down the expectations of all those quarters that had signed an agreement to support a common candidate.

The crisis in Sri Lanka turned worse on Sunday as one man was killed while two were injured in shots that were fired as the constitutional crisis turned violent. Bodyguards of Arjuna Ranatunga, Sri Lanka's petroleum minister, fired as supporters of Sirisena threatened the former, according to the police.