Sri Lanka’s toppled premier likened the president to Hitler yesterday as he demanded to be reinstated, almost six weeks into a paralysing political crisis in the Indian Ocean nation.
Ranil Wickremesinghe made the comments – his strongest yet directed at the head of state – at the prime minister’s official residence, which he has refused to vacate since his
dismissal in October.
“The president has to appoint me prime minister as I command a majority in
parliament,” he said.
“I am telling the president not to act like Hitler who bypassed the constitution... We are not going to allow him to
do that.”
President Maithripala Sirisena sacked Wickremesinghe and replaced him with Mahinda Rajapakse, the larger-than-life former president credited with ending Sri Lanka’s bloody civil war with Tamil separatists in 2009.
However with Wickremesinghe’s supporters still controlling a majority in parliament – which has witnessed brawls between MPs in recent weeks – Rajapakse has lost two votes of confidence.
On Monday, the Court of Appeal denied Rajapakse the authority to act as prime minister and stripped his cabinet of their powers, giving Rajapakse until December 12 to prove his legitimacy and that of his
government.
Sirisena, a former opponent of Rajapakse, told a group of legislators on Monday that he would not reinstate Wickremesinghe even if the latter had the support of all 225 members of the legislature.
Rajapakse urged his supporters on Monday night to remain calm and join his struggle to press for a general election nearly two years ahead of schedule.
Sirisena meanwhile told minority Tamil legislators who held talks with him on Monday evening that he would resolve the political vacuum “within 24 hours”. However, there were no signs of a settlement by
yesterday afternoon.
The Supreme Court this week is also expected to rule on whether Sirisena’s decision to dissolve parliament in November – a move already suspended by the court – was constitutional.
Rajapakse’s lawyers yesterday filed an appeal with the Court of Appeal, but it was not immediately taken up for
hearing.
Rajapakse in the statement said he and his party did not agree with an interim stay order issued by the Court of Appeal on Monday, which prevented him and his party members from holding public office till the case is heard on December 12.
“We wish to emphasise the fact that the interpretation of the constitution and making final determinations in that regard is exclusively vested in the Supreme Court by the constitution,” Rajapakse was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.
“The struggle to establish political stability in this country through the holding of a parliamentary election needs the support of the people more than ever at this moment,” he added.
Sri Lanka’s ousted PM Ranil Wickremesinghe, centre, arrives at a news conference after a court issued an order preventing newly appointed prime minister Mahinda Rajapakse from acting as prime minister and holding cabinet meetings in Colombo, yesterday.
