Former Sri Lankan prez Mahinda Rajapaksa becomes new Prime Minister

[samv]

Former Sri Lankan prez Mahinda Rajapaksa becomes new Prime Minister

Colombo, Oct 26 (PTI) In a dramatic political development in Sri Lanka, former strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa was on Friday sworn in as the new Prime Minister by President Maithripala Sirisena after his party abruptly quit the ruling coalition.

Visuals of the former president Rajapaksa taking oath as the premier were released to media and was shown on TV channels.

The sudden development came after Sirisena's broader political front United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) announced that it has decided to quit the current unity government with prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's United National Party (UNP).

Mahinda Amaraweera, agriculture minister and the general secretary of the UPFA, told reporters that the UPFA decision has been conveyed to Parliament.

The unity government was formed in 2015 when Sirisena was elected President with Wickremesinghe's support, ending a nearly decade-long rule by Rajapaksa.

Sirisena, who was Rajapaksa's minister of health, broke away from him to contest the presidential elections.

Political analysts said Sirisena's move to install Rajapaksa as the prime minister could lead to a constitutional crisis as the 19th amendment to the Constitution would not allow the sacking of Wickremesinghe as the premier without a majority.

Rajapaksa and Sirisena combine has only 95 seats and is short of a simple majority. Wickremesinghe's UNP has 106 seats on its own with just seven short of the majority.

There was no immediate comment from Wickremesinghe or the UNP.

President Sirisena's party withdrew from the ruling coalition after simmering tensions between him and Wickremesinghe.

The unity government was thrown into a crisis after Rajapaksa's new party pulled off a stunning victory in local elections in February seen as a referendum on the ruling alliance.

Last week, it was reported that Sirisena accused his senior coalition partner the UNP of not taking seriously an alleged conspiracy to assassinate him and Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, the former top defence ministry bureaucrat and brother of ex-president Mahinda Rajapaksa.

https://in.news.yahoo.com/former-sri-lankan-prez-mahinda-150405100.html

 

[DarkSeid]

ජය ශ්‍රී !!! Jaya Sri !!!

 

[Theparadox]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1055833558252744704

 

[Umair Nawaz]

So now JF17s......... anyone??

 

[Godman]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1055833558252744704

Why don't you send Swamy here? We are short of good politicians

 

[Realtalk108]

Political analysts said Sirisena's move to install Rajapaksa as the prime minister could lead to a constitutional crisis as the 19th amendment to the Constitution would not allow the sacking of Wickremesinghe as the premier without a majority.

Rajapaksa and Sirisena combine has only 95 seats and is short of a simple majority. Wickremesinghe's UNP has 106 seats on its own with just seven short of the majority.

So...what happens now?

 

[ghameed]

Why don't you send Swamy here? We are short of good politicians

You must be joking

 

[LASER1]

Why don't you send Swamy here? We are short of good politicians

Swami is not a good politician. He's an economist with explosive ideas. His political side is not up to the mark. He's not diplomatic either.

 

[ghameed]

Swami is not a good politician. He's an economist with explosive ideas. His political side is not up to the mark. He's not diplomatic either.

Even as an economist, he is far below average, and that's probably the reason for his belligerent behaviour on the political front

 

[LASER1]

Even as an economist, he is far below average, and that's probably the reason for his belligerent behaviour on the political front

haha right. You know, average dummies don't get to Harvard and get PhD in economics from Harvard with a scholarship and get to teach in Harvard by being 'subpar' in economics. So, before you say such stupidity like 'below average' think again.

 

[HeinzG]

So...what happens now?

Don't know for sure yet. Everyone is in a shock. Political arena is in turmoil.

 

[Aryan0395]

Don't know for sure yet. Everyone is in a shock. Political arena is in turmoil.

Basically as far as i know, currently Sri lanka has either 2 prime minister or nobody knows who the PM is.

 

[ghameed]

haha right. You know, average dummies don't get to Harvard and get PhD in economics from Harvard with a scholarship and get to teach in Harvard by being 'subpar' in economics. So, before you say such stupidity like 'below average' think again.

Look at what I posted , you little dufus; I didn't say he was below average in economics , I said he was below average as an economist.....as in he has done absolutely nothing groundbreaking in that field,unlike his peers he criticises on a regular basis

 

[LASER1]

Look at what I posted , you little dufus; I didn't say he was below average in economics , I said he was below average as an economist.....as in he has done absolutely nothing groundbreaking in that field,unlike his peers he criticises on a regular basis

Lol! Call yourself dufus. Define an economist. Someone holding Ph.D in economics from Harvard is sub-par economist according to this guy. Dude even his books were in Harvard study for quite some time.

Even as an economist, he is far below average,

Also, you being ignorant is not my problem. If you don't know his contribution to India during the 91 economic reforms (and crisis) or India securing IMF loan by parking our gold reserves abroad, why are we talking about this?

Of course, he makes controversial statements a lot but calling him a sub-par economist by random internet dummy who doesn't even know the ABCD of economics is quite appalling.

 

[Feng Leng]

Sri Lankans had enough of kissing up to Indians!