Sacked Sri Lanka PM Wickremesinghe seeks emergency session of parliament

October 27, 2018 13:06

Ousted Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Saturday sought an emergency session of Parliament to prove his majority, as the island nation plunged into a constitutional crisis after President Maithripala Sirisena sacked him and made former strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa the new premier.

Speaker Karu Jayasuriya's office said that Wickremesinghe has sent a letter, seeking an emergency session of the Parliament, which was scheduled to meet on November 5 to debate the budget.

Wickremesinghe, who has been asserting that the swearing in of Rajapaksa in his place is "illegal and unconstitutional", wants the issue be settled in parliament with show of numbers.

Sirisena on Saturday formalised the sacking of his former ally by issuing two extraordinary gazette notices.

After Rajapaksa took oath at the Presidential Secretariat here Friday, Sirisena wrote to Wickremesinghe, saying he had been removed.

"I had appointed you as the prime minister under (article) 42 (1) of the Constitution and as your appointing authority, I write to notice that you have been removed from the post of prime minister," Sirisena said in the letter.

-- PTI

« Back to LIVE

TOP STORIES

Meet Baldev Kumar from Punjab, first outsider to contest J-K LS polls

The abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019 paved the way for outsiders to contest polls in the Union Territory.

IPL PIX: Rahul, de Kock power LSG to easy win over CSK

Openers KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock hit fifties as LSG trounced CSK by eight wickets.

Phase 1 sees nearly 63% polling amid stray incidents of violence

"The voting percentage is likely to go upwards when reports from all polling stations are obtained as polling is scheduled till 6 pm in many constituencies. Final figures will be known on Saturday after the scrutiny of form 17A," the EC...

Manipur records 68% polling marred by violence, firing, booth capturing

At Thamnapokpi under Moirang constituency in Bishnupur district, armed men fired several rounds in the air near a polling booth prompting voters to flee, police said on Friday, adding additional security personnel were rushed to the spot...

Air India to soon have new crew management system

Air India will soon have a new crew management system that will help strengthen rostering rules and enable faster recovery from scheduled disruptions. In a message to the staff on Friday, Air India CEO and MD Campbell Wilson said that...