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I will reconvene Parliament soon, says President
The nine-day political turmoil after President Maithripala Sirisena ousted Ranil Wickremesinghe and swore-in Mahinda Rajapaksa as the new Prime Minister with a new government showed signs of receding yesterday.
In brief remarks made to the Sunday Times, President Maithripala Sirisena said he would “reconvene Parliament soon” but did not mention a date. “We have the required majority for the new government,” he said amidst his chores of swearing-in ministers, state ministers and deputies.
However, a diplomatic source said Mr Sirisena had assured the United Nations Secretary General António Guterres that Parliament would be reconvened before November 16 – the date he set for re-opening when he prorogued the House on October 26.
In remarks made to the Sunday Times, his Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa also reiterated that his government had “the support of the majority MPs in Parliament”.
How the United National Front albeit the United National Party (UNP) would react to the move remained unclear yesterday. Ousted Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe still remains in what was his official residence, ‘Temple Trees’.
Two UNF frontliners, however, charged that the present government was both “illegal” and “undemocratic.” Former Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera told the Sunday Times, “We will not allow a return to the reign of terror, robbery and fear.” Patali Champika Ranawaka, who leads the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU)n a partner of the UNF, declared, “We will fight against this unconstitutional and undemocratic move.”
On Friday, a group of Colombo-based envoys, mostly from Western diplomatic missions, called on Speaker Karu Jayasuriya to summon Parliament. Speaker Jayasuriya explained to them that he was in a helpless situation.