Two men each claim to be the Prime Minister. Lawmakers are exchanging blows in Parliament. A former Finance Minister says the country is on the brink of an “economic anarchy.” Welcome to Sri Lanka, where the political crisis is getting worse by the week.
The trouble started when President Maithripala Sirisena, fed up with disagreements with his Prime Minister over money, an alleged conspiracy plot and unresolved issues of wartime crimes against civilians, fired Ranil Wickremesinghe and his Cabinet and replaced them with a Government headed by a popular former strongman, Mahinda Rajapaksa.
But lawmakers balked and twice passed a no-confidence motion.Sirisena, however, refuses to accept that his choice of Prime Minister has been defeated. Jehan Perera, head of the local analyst group National Peace Council, said that the government appointed by the president can’t be called legal because Sirisena had not sought a parliamentary vote when he dismissed Wickremesinghe.