Assassination Plot Claimed by Sri Lanka President in Ousting PM
Source: Bloomberg/Yahoo
Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena said he abruptly fired the island nation’s prime minister in part because he failed to properly investigate an assassination plot against him.
In an address to the nation on Sunday night, Sirisena said the plot was the “most proximate and powerful reason” for replacing Ranil Wickremesinghe as prime minister with former strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa. The president said an unnamed cabinet minister was involved in the plot, and officials in the administration were seeking to pressure the investigation.
“Under these political problems, economic troubles and the strong plot to assassinate me, the only alternative open to me was to invite former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and appoint him as prime minister to form a new government,” Sirisena said.
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On Saturday, Sirisena suspended parliament until Nov. 16 as both sides lobbied lawmakers for support. Wickremesinghe said at a press conference on Saturday that he still commanded the majority backing in parliament and called for a special session of the legislature to prove it. He’s likely to challenge his removal as unconstitutional in the courts.
Read more: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/shifting-toward-china-sri-lanka-132756313.html
From earlier:
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Rajapakse loyalists stormed two state-owned television networks overnight – which they regard as loyal to the outgoing government – and forced them off the air.
Video footage from private networks showed police overwhelmed by mobs at the Rupavahini national TV station but elsewhere in the capital streets remained calm.
As president for nine years beginning in 2005, Rajapakse crushed the Tamil Tigers in 2009, ending a 25-year conflict, but refused to acknowledge abuses committed during the bloody civil war.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/oct/27/sri-lanka-in-turmoil-after-prime-minister-wickremesinghe-sacked
