By Andreas Johansson

A constitutional crisis has erupted in Sri Lanka, prompting fears of a “bloodbath”. The crisis was triggered when the country’s president, Maithripala Sirisena, sacked the prime minister, Ranil Wickramasinghe, and appointed the former president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, as his replacement.

Wickramasinghe and his supporters claim that Sirisena’s move is unconstitutional. Indeed, Wickramasinghe still considers himself to be prime minister and refuses to step down, leaving Sri Lanka with two prime ministers.&nbsp;

Wickramasinghe also has prominent supporters, including finance and media minister, Mangala Samaraweera, who wrote on Facebook that Sirisena’s action amounted to a coup.

Sirisena initially claimed that he had the constitutional right to fire Wickramasinghe. But he subsequently admitted that Sri Lanka was in a political crisis and suspended parliament.

On October 28, there were reports of gunshots fired against an angry mob following an attack on another of Wickramasinghe’s supporters, the former petroleum minister, Arjuna Ranatunga. One member of the mob was killed and two were injured.

Sirisena has been strongly criticised over the last few days. The speaker of parliament, Karu Jayasuriya, questioned Sirisena’s action in a statement issued on October 28. He then reportedly told journalists the next day, "We should settle this through parliament, but if we take it out to the streets, there will be a huge bloodbath."

Meanwhile, Rajapaksa, the new prime minister, has called for fresh parliamentary elections, and “a new democratic beginning and the rejection of the politics of hate”.

Chaos reigns

This political chaos has a long backstory. Rajapaksa’s appointment by Sirisena came as a surprise to many as the two former allies had become rivals during the 2015 presidential election. Rajapaksa had been president since 2005, but was narrowly defeated by Sirisena in 2015. Rajapaksa was also accused of corruption and nepotism during his time as president.

Nevertheless, it’s not entirely surprising that Sirisena has chosen Rajapaksa as his prime minister over Wickramasinghe. Even though they were political allies in Sri Lanka’s unity government, the relationship between Sirisena and Wickramasinghe was beset by problems. During the last few years, they had been unable to agree on economic policy or how to run the country in general. In fact, the United People’s Freedom Alliance, recently quit the unity government of Wickramasinghe as a result.

Another reason why Sirisena has turned to Rajapaksa is that the latter has proved that he still has enough power to garner votes. In February 2018, Sri Lanka held local elections – during which Rajapaksa and his newly formed political party, Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna, won a major victory, which shook Sirisena’s presidency.

Local elections in Sri Lanka do not have the same impact as the parliamentary or presidential elections, but Rajapaksa’s win showed that he is still politically attractive to the majority Sinhala community. Even though he was defeated by Sirisena in the 2015 presidential election, Rajapaksa clearly has no intention of giving up his desire to become a key political figure.

The role of China and India

Another consideration is the role of China – or rather the proxy power struggle between India and China over Sri Lanka.

During Rajapaksa’s presidency, China invested heavily in infrastructure projects around the country and Rajapaksa continues to have strong ties with the emerging superpower. Wickramasinghe’s government, on the other hand, had set its sights on India, which promised to invest in the country’s infrastructure. Wickramasinghe’s recent visit to India was a clear indication of where his priorities lay, possibly putting at risk China’s investment in the country.

To complicate matters further, a police officer was recently arrested and charged with planning to assassinate president Sirisena. A newspaper in India also stated that Sirisena had accused the Indian intelligence services of being behind this plot. Sirisena has not confirmed this, but it could explain why he’d favour closer ties with Rajapaksa (and China) over Wickramasinghe (and India).

India made an official statement on October 28 saying that it hoped that “democratic values would be respected”. China’s ambassador in Sri Lanka, meanwhile, congratulated Rajapaksa on his new appointment.

What now?

When Sirisena was elected president in 2015 he promised to look into the war crimes that Sri Lanka was accused of by the international community following the end of the country’s bloody civil war in 2009. This was something that Rajapaksa had avoided doing during his presidency.

A UNHCR report accused both the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tigers of war crimes. But three years into Sirisena’s presidency and he has now clearly sided with the Sri Lankan armed forces, claiming that no war crimes were committed by the government. In this sense, Sirisena and Rajapaksa have another thing in common.

But could this spark a whole new wave of violence? Certainly, the political situation is worrying for Sri Lanka’s minority Tamil and Muslim communities. With the government in crisis, there are also now murmurs of a new wave of Sinhala nationalism – and inflammatory exchanges between the two sides will do nothing to stem it. The fire has been laid, it seems; the question now is when it will be lit. 
&nbsp;

(Andreas Johansson is Director of Swedish South Asian Studies Network (SASNET), Lund University)

(This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/sri-lanka-as-constitutional-crisis-triggers-fears-of-bloodbath-concern-mounts-for-minorities-105990">original article</a>)

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

 
&nbsp;

By Andreas Johansson A constitutional crisis has erupted in Sri Lanka, prompting fears of a “bloodbath”. The crisis was triggered when the country’s president, Maithripala Sirisena, sacked the prime minister, Ranil Wickramasinghe, and appointed the former president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, as his replacement.

By Andreas Johansson A constitutional crisis has erupted in Sri Lanka, prompting fears of a “bloodbath”. The crisis was triggered when the country’s president, Maithripala Sirisena, sacked the prime minister, Ranil Wickramasinghe, and appointed the former president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, as his replacement. Wickramasinghe and his supporters claim that Sirisena’s move is unconstitutional. Indeed, Wickramasinghe still considers himself to be prime minister and refuses to step down, leaving Sri Lanka with two prime ministers. Wickramasinghe also has prominent supporters, including finance and media minister, Mangala Samaraweera, who wrote on Facebook that Sirisena’s action amounted to a coup. Sirisena initially claimed that he had the constitutional right to fire Wickramasinghe. But he subsequently admitted that Sri Lanka was in a political crisis and suspended parliament. On October 28, there were reports of gunshots fired against an angry mob following an attack on another of Wickramasinghe’s supporters, the former petroleum minister, Arjuna Ranatunga. One member of the mob was killed and two were injured. Sirisena has been strongly criticised over the last few days. The speaker of parliament, Karu Jayasuriya, questioned Sirisena’s action in a statement issued on October 28. He then reportedly told journalists the next day, "We should settle this through parliament, but if we take it out to the streets, there will be a huge bloodbath." Meanwhile, Rajapaksa, the new prime minister, has called for fresh parliamentary elections, and “a new democratic beginning and the rejection of the politics of hate”. Chaos reigns This political chaos has a long backstory. Rajapaksa’s appointment by Sirisena came as a surprise to many as the two former allies had become rivals during the 2015 presidential election. Rajapaksa had been president since 2005, but was narrowly defeated by Sirisena in 2015. Rajapaksa was also accused of corruption and nepotism during his time as president. Nevertheless, it’s not entirely surprising that Sirisena has chosen Rajapaksa as his prime minister over Wickramasinghe. Even though they were political allies in Sri Lanka’s unity government, the relationship between Sirisena and Wickramasinghe was beset by problems. During the last few years, they had been unable to agree on economic policy or how to run the country in general. In fact, the United People’s Freedom Alliance, recently quit the unity government of Wickramasinghe as a result. Another reason why Sirisena has turned to Rajapaksa is that the latter has proved that he still has enough power to garner votes. In February 2018, Sri Lanka held local elections – during which Rajapaksa and his newly formed political party, Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna, won a major victory, which shook Sirisena’s presidency. Local elections in Sri Lanka do not have the same impact as the parliamentary or presidential elections, but Rajapaksa’s win showed that he is still politically attractive to the majority Sinhala community. Even though he was defeated by Sirisena in the 2015 presidential election, Rajapaksa clearly has no intention of giving up his desire to become a key political figure. The role of China and India Another consideration is the role of China – or rather the proxy power struggle between India and China over Sri Lanka. During Rajapaksa’s presidency, China invested heavily in infrastructure projects around the country and Rajapaksa continues to have strong ties with the emerging superpower. Wickramasinghe’s government, on the other hand, had set its sights on India, which promised to invest in the country’s infrastructure. Wickramasinghe’s recent visit to India was a clear indication of where his priorities lay, possibly putting at risk China’s investment in the country. To complicate matters further, a police officer was recently arrested and charged with planning to assassinate president Sirisena. A newspaper in India also stated that Sirisena had accused the Indian intelligence services of being behind this plot. Sirisena has not confirmed this, but it could explain why he’d favour closer ties with Rajapaksa (and China) over Wickramasinghe (and India). India made an official statement on October 28 saying that it hoped that “democratic values would be respected”. China’s ambassador in Sri Lanka, meanwhile, congratulated Rajapaksa on his new appointment. What now? When Sirisena was elected president in 2015 he promised to look into the war crimes that Sri Lanka was accused of by the international community following the end of the country’s bloody civil war in 2009. This was something that Rajapaksa had avoided doing during his presidency. A UNHCR report accused both the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tigers of war crimes. But three years into Sirisena’s presidency and he has now clearly sided with the Sri Lankan armed forces, claiming that no war crimes were committed by the government. In this sense, Sirisena and Rajapaksa have another thing in common. But could this spark a whole new wave of violence? Certainly, the political situation is worrying for Sri Lanka’s minority Tamil and Muslim communities. With the government in crisis, there are also now murmurs of a new wave of Sinhala nationalism – and inflammatory exchanges between the two sides will do nothing to stem it. The fire has been laid, it seems; the question now is when it will be lit. (Andreas Johansson is Director of Swedish South Asian Studies Network (SASNET), Lund University) (This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article) (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Political chaos in Sri Lanka has a long backstory

Maithripala Sirisena is likely to agree to reconvene Sri Lankan Parliament next week, Speaker Karu Jayasuriya's office said on Wednesday, amid indications that a compromise is being worked out to avoid a showdown between the President and ousted premier Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Speaker Jayasuriya held emergency talks with President Sirisena on Wednesday evening to convince him on the need to reconvene Parliament to try and end the current political impasse over the sacking of Prime Minister Wickremesinghe last Friday.

The meeting came after Attorney General Jayantha Jayasuriya earlier on Wednesday refused to endorse the President's dismissal of Wickremesinghe for former strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The attorney general refused to give an opinion to Jayasuriya over the sacking of Wickremesinghe, saying it would be "deemed inappropriate". Some political experts have opined that it is clear sign that the attorney general considers the move as unconstitutional.

Wickremesinghe's sacking was carried out by Sirisena inspite of the 19th amendment to the Constitution which had stripped president's powers to sack a prime minister.

Immediately after Rajapaksa's appointment Sirisena suspended parliament until November 16, which experts said was meant to buy time to engineer crossovers from Wickremesinghe's side to Rajapaksa in the 225-member parliament to reach the 113 working majority mark.

Jayasuriya had insisted since the crisis broke out that it needs to be resolved in parliament with a floor test.

Sirisena has faced relentless international pressure to reconvene parliament to allow a floor test. Countries other than China and Burundi have not recognised Rajapaksa as the new prime minister.

The Speaker, seeking the AG's opinion, had asked five questions including the one on the validity of President Maithripala Sirisena dismissing Wickremesinghe as the premier.

The attorney general wrote to the speaker: "Having regard to the role of the Attorney General under the Constitution, I am of the view that expressing an opinion on the said questions would be deemed inappropriate".

Sirisena is under increasing political and diplomatic pressure to reconvene Parliament and resolve the constitutional crisis.

Wickremesinghe, who is refusing to accept his dismissal, argues that he cannot legally be dismissed until he loses the support of Parliament.

On Tuesday, angry protests rocked Sri Lanka's capital as thousands of demonstrators gathered for a rally organised by deposed prime minister Wickremesinghe's party against what it said was a "coup" by President Sirisena, even as the opposing sides were engaged in efforts to secure their numbers in Parliament to end the country's political crisis.

Amidst the political turmoil in Sri Lanka, a top UN envoy here met President Sirisena Wednesday and discussed the prevailing political crisis.

United Nations Resident Coordinator Hanaa Singer met Sirisena days after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed "great concern" over the deepening political crisis and called on the country's government to respect democratic values and constitutional provisions and process.

Meanwhile, new prime minister Rajapaksa assumed duties on Wednesday.

Maithripala Sirisena is likely to agree to reconvene Sri Lankan Parliament next week, Speaker Karu Jayasuriya's office said on Wednesday, amid indications that a compromise is being worked out to avoid a showdown between the President and ousted premier Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Maithripala Sirisena is likely to agree to reconvene Sri Lankan Parliament next week, Speaker Karu Jayasuriya's office said on Wednesday, amid indications that a compromise is being worked out to avoid a showdown between the President and ousted premier Ranil Wickremesinghe. Speaker Jayasuriya held emergency talks with President Sirisena on Wednesday evening to convince him on the need to reconvene Parliament to try and end the current political impasse over the sacking of Prime Minister Wickremesinghe last Friday. The meeting came after Attorney General Jayantha Jayasuriya earlier on Wednesday refused to endorse the President's dismissal of Wickremesinghe for former strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa. The attorney general refused to give an opinion to Jayasuriya over the sacking of Wickremesinghe, saying it would be "deemed inappropriate". Some political experts have opined that it is clear sign that the attorney general considers the move as unconstitutional. Wickremesinghe's sacking was carried out by Sirisena inspite of the 19th amendment to the Constitution which had stripped president's powers to sack a prime minister. Immediately after Rajapaksa's appointment Sirisena suspended parliament until November 16, which experts said was meant to buy time to engineer crossovers from Wickremesinghe's side to Rajapaksa in the 225-member parliament to reach the 113 working majority mark. Jayasuriya had insisted since the crisis broke out that it needs to be resolved in parliament with a floor test. Sirisena has faced relentless international pressure to reconvene parliament to allow a floor test. Countries other than China and Burundi have not recognised Rajapaksa as the new prime minister. The Speaker, seeking the AG's opinion, had asked five questions including the one on the validity of President Maithripala Sirisena dismissing Wickremesinghe as the premier. The attorney general wrote to the speaker: "Having regard to the role of the Attorney General under the Constitution, I am of the view that expressing an opinion on the said questions would be deemed inappropriate". Sirisena is under increasing political and diplomatic pressure to reconvene Parliament and resolve the constitutional crisis. Wickremesinghe, who is refusing to accept his dismissal, argues that he cannot legally be dismissed until he loses the support of Parliament. On Tuesday, angry protests rocked Sri Lanka's capital as thousands of demonstrators gathered for a rally organised by deposed prime minister Wickremesinghe's party against what it said was a "coup" by President Sirisena, even as the opposing sides were engaged in efforts to secure their numbers in Parliament to end the country's political crisis. Amidst the political turmoil in Sri Lanka, a top UN envoy here met President Sirisena Wednesday and discussed the prevailing political crisis. United Nations Resident Coordinator Hanaa Singer met Sirisena days after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed "great concern" over the deepening political crisis and called on the country's government to respect democratic values and constitutional provisions and process. Meanwhile, new prime minister Rajapaksa assumed duties on Wednesday.

Sirisena may reconvene Parliament next week as AG refuses to endorse sacking of Wickremesinghe

Just three years after being voted out in a presidential election in Sri Lanka, strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa is back at the centre of power, appointed prime minister by the man who defeated him.

President Maithripala Sirisena named the pro-China 72-year-old as his number two on Friday after abruptly dismissing the government of incumbent Ranil Wickremesinghe. Wickremesinghe has said his removal is unconstitutional and has demanded he be allowed to prove his parliamentary majority.

A mustachioed man usually dressed in a spotless white shirt, sarong and trademark maroon sash, Rajapaksa is seen as a hero by many in Sri Lanka`s Buddhist majority. He wears rings as lucky charms, sometimes as many as eight, and he has been called the "lord of the rings".

Rajapaksa has been accused by diplomats of serious human rights abuses in the war against rebels from the Tamil minority, one of Asia`s longest-running conflicts that ended during his tenure as president, in 2009. More than 100,000 people were killed in the 26-year war.

Rajapaksa said in a statement after he was sworn in he wanted to end religious and ethnic divisions in the country of 21 million people.

"We will eschew the politics of hate and set up an interim government that will protect the human rights of all citizens, that will protect the independence of the judiciary and establish law and order in the country," he said.

Almost immediately after he was sworn in, supporters of Rajapaksa invaded state media outlets in Colombo to take control of them, journalists there told Reuters.

Reporters Without Borders has called Rajapaksa "one of the world`s biggest press freedom predators" during his two terms as president from 2005 to 2015.

Mavai Senathirajah, a legislator from the main Tamil political party, said it was a shock to the community that makes up 13 percent of the population that Rajapaksa was back in power in three years.

"There are a number of accusations against him including war crimes. The president who accused Rajapaksa of corruption and rights abuses during the last election now has appointed him as his prime minister."

FAMILY AFFAIR

Born into a family of nine siblings in the southern village of Weeraketiya, Rajapaksa has spent four decades in politics, along with many of his relatives.

A lawyer by training, he followed his father into parliament in 1970, then the youngest-ever legislator, while several of his brothers and sons have held key roles in domestic and international politics.

His son Namal, a London-educated lawyer, took his record as the youngest MP in 2010.

Earlier in his career, Rajapaksa was known as a strong defender of human rights and participated in many left-wing and radical protests.

Before becoming president in 2005, he held a number of ministerial portfolios, and served as leader of the opposition from March 2002 until he was appointed prime minister in 2004.

He soon turned his attention to the civil war, boosting troop numbers and pushing into territory held by the Tamil Tiger rebels, leading to their surrender in 2009 and a landslide election win for Rajapaksa the year after.

The United Nations has said that thousands of civilians were killed in the last year of the war after heavy shelling by government forces. It has long sought a judicial investigation involving foreign judges and prosecutors to probe the alleged war crimes.

In a leaked diplomatic cable written in 2010, the United States` ambassador to Sri Lanka Patricia Butenis said that responsibility for alleged crimes against civilians during the war "rests with the country`s senior civilian and military leadership, including President Rajapaksa and his brothers".

Rajapaksa's brother, Gotabaya Rajapaksa who was Defence Secretary during the final stages of the war, has faced allegations he maintained death squads.

The brothers rejected the allegations and said the military only targeted the Tamil Tigers, one of the most violent insurgent groups in the world at the time.

SECOND TERM

After winning a two-thirds majority in his second term in 2010, Rajapaksa amended the constitution to remove checks on the presidency, including the presidential two-term limit.

Rajapaksa is also known for drawing the country closer to China, borrowing billions of dollars from Beijing to the alarm of Sri Lanka's traditional ally India.

He opened up the country's main port to Chinese submarines when he was president, which stoked anger in India, while a huge new port funded by Chinese investment led to concerns Beijing's investment programme was a debt trap.

Rajapaksa blamed the Indian intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing for rallying his opponents against him, leading to his loss in the 2015 election.

His return to power has drawn concern in New Delhi that China would tighten its grip on Sri Lanka, which is strategically placed at the head of the Indian Ocean.

Just three years after being voted out in a presidential election in Sri Lanka, strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa is back at the centre of power, appointed prime minister by the man who defeated him.

Just three years after being voted out in a presidential election in Sri Lanka, strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa is back at the centre of power, appointed prime minister by the man who defeated him. President Maithripala Sirisena named the pro-China 72-year-old as his number two on Friday after abruptly dismissing the government of incumbent Ranil Wickremesinghe. Wickremesinghe has said his removal is unconstitutional and has demanded he be allowed to prove his parliamentary majority. A mustachioed man usually dressed in a spotless white shirt, sarong and trademark maroon sash, Rajapaksa is seen as a hero by many in Sri Lanka`s Buddhist majority. He wears rings as lucky charms, sometimes as many as eight, and he has been called the "lord of the rings". Rajapaksa has been accused by diplomats of serious human rights abuses in the war against rebels from the Tamil minority, one of Asia`s longest-running conflicts that ended during his tenure as president, in 2009. More than 100,000 people were killed in the 26-year war. Rajapaksa said in a statement after he was sworn in he wanted to end religious and ethnic divisions in the country of 21 million people. "We will eschew the politics of hate and set up an interim government that will protect the human rights of all citizens, that will protect the independence of the judiciary and establish law and order in the country," he said. Almost immediately after he was sworn in, supporters of Rajapaksa invaded state media outlets in Colombo to take control of them, journalists there told Reuters. Reporters Without Borders has called Rajapaksa "one of the world`s biggest press freedom predators" during his two terms as president from 2005 to 2015. Mavai Senathirajah, a legislator from the main Tamil political party, said it was a shock to the community that makes up 13 percent of the population that Rajapaksa was back in power in three years. "There are a number of accusations against him including war crimes. The president who accused Rajapaksa of corruption and rights abuses during the last election now has appointed him as his prime minister." FAMILY AFFAIR Born into a family of nine siblings in the southern village of Weeraketiya, Rajapaksa has spent four decades in politics, along with many of his relatives. A lawyer by training, he followed his father into parliament in 1970, then the youngest-ever legislator, while several of his brothers and sons have held key roles in domestic and international politics. His son Namal, a London-educated lawyer, took his record as the youngest MP in 2010. Earlier in his career, Rajapaksa was known as a strong defender of human rights and participated in many left-wing and radical protests. Before becoming president in 2005, he held a number of ministerial portfolios, and served as leader of the opposition from March 2002 until he was appointed prime minister in 2004. He soon turned his attention to the civil war, boosting troop numbers and pushing into territory held by the Tamil Tiger rebels, leading to their surrender in 2009 and a landslide election win for Rajapaksa the year after. The United Nations has said that thousands of civilians were killed in the last year of the war after heavy shelling by government forces. It has long sought a judicial investigation involving foreign judges and prosecutors to probe the alleged war crimes. In a leaked diplomatic cable written in 2010, the United States` ambassador to Sri Lanka Patricia Butenis said that responsibility for alleged crimes against civilians during the war "rests with the country`s senior civilian and military leadership, including President Rajapaksa and his brothers". Rajapaksa's brother, Gotabaya Rajapaksa who was Defence Secretary during the final stages of the war, has faced allegations he maintained death squads. The brothers rejected the allegations and said the military only targeted the Tamil Tigers, one of the most violent insurgent groups in the world at the time. SECOND TERM After winning a two-thirds majority in his second term in 2010, Rajapaksa amended the constitution to remove checks on the presidency, including the presidential two-term limit. Rajapaksa is also known for drawing the country closer to China, borrowing billions of dollars from Beijing to the alarm of Sri Lanka's traditional ally India. He opened up the country's main port to Chinese submarines when he was president, which stoked anger in India, while a huge new port funded by Chinese investment led to concerns Beijing's investment programme was a debt trap. Rajapaksa blamed the Indian intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing for rallying his opponents against him, leading to his loss in the 2015 election. His return to power has drawn concern in New Delhi that China would tighten its grip on Sri Lanka, which is strategically placed at the head of the Indian Ocean.

Mahinda Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka's 'lord of the rings', back in power

Day after <a href="http://www.wionews.com/south-asia/mahinda-rajapaksa-sri-lankas-lord-of-the-rings-back-in-power-174789">Mahinda Rajapaksa</a> took oath as the new Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, his son and Member of Parliament Namal has reached out to India. New Delhi is yet to endorse Rajapaksa's prime ministership, saying it is "watching developments closely." In an exclusive interview to WION, Namal Rajapaksa, who in the past has accused India of influencing elections and acting against his father's presidency, has said they're "ready to put the past behind."

"Indian influence in the region is very important. India has to play a bigger role when it comes to the region's development - we have always believed that. Before 2015, there was a misrepresentation of his (Rajapaksa's) policies. Now we want to talk about the future, and not the past. We were non-aligned and we always want to be non-aligned," said Namal.

When asked about China's dominance and mounting debt, he called Beijing Colombo's partner. "My father offered Hambantota port to India first. Since the deal with India did not materialise, we had to go to China. There is nothing for India to be worried about. China and Sri Lanka are economic partners. China has invested a huge amount of money in our country. But we want friendly relations with every country."

Namal also defended President Maithripala Sirisena's decision to sack the Wickremesinghe government, saying, "Appointing Rajapaksa as Prime Minister was in national interest. Valid reasons were given which were purely based on national interest and keeping in mind national security."

President Sirisena, in a sudden turn of events, sacked Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Friday and replaced him with former President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The President then <a href="http://www.wionews.com/south-asia/sri-lankas-president-to-reconvene-parliament-on-november-5-says-new-pm-174824">prorogued the Sri Lankan Parliament</a> prompting protests and a demand for the House to be reconvened, to allow lawmakers to choose their leader.

Wickremesinghe has <a href="http://www.wionews.com/south-asia/sri-lanka-attorney-general-refuses-to-endorse-sacking-of-ranil-wickremesinghe-174723">called his removal unconstitutional</a> and has demanded he be allowed to prove his parliamentary majority.

Observers call it the first such unconstitutional transfer of power in Sri Lanka. But Namal today insisted that it is not a constitutional crisis. He called it a "political crisis" and was confident that his father Mahinda Rajapaksa has the required numbers to prove majority in Parliament.

Attacking Wickremesinghe, he said, "I ask: What reforms have taken place here during Wickremesinghe's term? They promised to amend the Constitution, but did nothing. They promised reforms but nothing happened. They postponed the provincial election for three years. Now they are talking about all this. What happened in their government?"

The return of Rajapaksa, a former president who crushed a decades-old Tamil insurgency, has stoked fears of fresh political and ethnic division in the island nation of 21 million mostly Sinhalese Buddhists, with Tamil and Muslim minorities.

Namal Rajapakse said his party was prepared to put the past behind. Listing out his father's priorities, Namal said, "We are looking at bringing economic and social stability in the country, rehabilitation of former LTTE cadres and of course the constitutional amendment which should be acceptable to everyone."

India and western countries have expressed concern about Rajapaksa's ties to China, as he ushered in billions of dollars of investments from Beijing during his tenure as President, to help rebuild the country after a 26-year civil war against ethnic Tamil separatists ended in 2009. In fact, China was the first country to congratulate Rajapaksa and endorse him as the new Prime Minister.&nbsp;

The power struggle in Sri Lanka comes at a critical time for its economy, with credit rating agencies warning that the turmoil could raise financing costs and lower foreign capital inflows as it attempts to refinance sizeable government debts.

Day after Mahinda Rajapaksa took oath as the new Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, his son and Member of Parliament Namal has reached out to India. New Delhi is yet to endorse Rajapaksa's prime ministership, saying it is "watching developments closely.

Day after Mahinda Rajapaksa took oath as the new Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, his son and Member of Parliament Namal has reached out to India. New Delhi is yet to endorse Rajapaksa's prime ministership, saying it is "watching developments closely." In an exclusive interview to WION, Namal Rajapaksa, who in the past has accused India of influencing elections and acting against his father's presidency, has said they're "ready to put the past behind." "Indian influence in the region is very important. India has to play a bigger role when it comes to the region's development - we have always believed that. Before 2015, there was a misrepresentation of his (Rajapaksa's) policies. Now we want to talk about the future, and not the past. We were non-aligned and we always want to be non-aligned," said Namal. When asked about China's dominance and mounting debt, he called Beijing Colombo's partner. "My father offered Hambantota port to India first. Since the deal with India did not materialise, we had to go to China. There is nothing for India to be worried about. China and Sri Lanka are economic partners. China has invested a huge amount of money in our country. But we want friendly relations with every country." Namal also defended President Maithripala Sirisena's decision to sack the Wickremesinghe government, saying, "Appointing Rajapaksa as Prime Minister was in national interest. Valid reasons were given which were purely based on national interest and keeping in mind national security." President Sirisena, in a sudden turn of events, sacked Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Friday and replaced him with former President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The President then prorogued the Sri Lankan Parliament prompting protests and a demand for the House to be reconvened, to allow lawmakers to choose their leader. Wickremesinghe has called his removal unconstitutional and has demanded he be allowed to prove his parliamentary majority. Observers call it the first such unconstitutional transfer of power in Sri Lanka. But Namal today insisted that it is not a constitutional crisis. He called it a "political crisis" and was confident that his father Mahinda Rajapaksa has the required numbers to prove majority in Parliament. Attacking Wickremesinghe, he said, "I ask: What reforms have taken place here during Wickremesinghe's term? They promised to amend the Constitution, but did nothing. They promised reforms but nothing happened. They postponed the provincial election for three years. Now they are talking about all this. What happened in their government?" The return of Rajapaksa, a former president who crushed a decades-old Tamil insurgency, has stoked fears of fresh political and ethnic division in the island nation of 21 million mostly Sinhalese Buddhists, with Tamil and Muslim minorities. Namal Rajapakse said his party was prepared to put the past behind. Listing out his father's priorities, Namal said, "We are looking at bringing economic and social stability in the country, rehabilitation of former LTTE cadres and of course the constitutional amendment which should be acceptable to everyone." India and western countries have expressed concern about Rajapaksa's ties to China, as he ushered in billions of dollars of investments from Beijing during his tenure as President, to help rebuild the country after a 26-year civil war against ethnic Tamil separatists ended in 2009. In fact, China was the first country to congratulate Rajapaksa and endorse him as the new Prime Minister. The power struggle in Sri Lanka comes at a critical time for its economy, with credit rating agencies warning that the turmoil could raise financing costs and lower foreign capital inflows as it attempts to refinance sizeable government debts.

Rajapaksa's appointment in national interest, India shouldn't be worried, son Namal tells WION

Exclusive conversation with Namal Rajapaksa, Sri Lankan PM's son

Sri Lanka President Maithripala Sirisena appointed newly appointed Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa as the finance minister, the president's media division said on Monday.

He also appointed Rajapaksa along with several other legislators to the cabinet.

Sirisena on Friday night had sacked Wickremesinghe and appointed Rajapaksa as the new prime minister in a surprise move that is being debated as a constitutional coup.

Sirisena also suspended Parliament till November 16 after Wickremesinghe sought an emergency session to prove his majority.

Rajapaksa was defeated in the 2015 presidential election by Sirisena who had the backing of Wickremesinghe's UNP. After a unity government, the political relationship soured between the two, leading to Wickremesinghe's sacking by Sirisena.

Sri Lanka President Maithripala Sirisena appointed newly appointed Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa as the finance minister, the president's media division said on Monday.

Sri Lanka President Maithripala Sirisena appointed newly appointed Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa as the finance minister, the president's media division said on Monday. He also appointed Rajapaksa along with several other legislators to the cabinet. Sirisena on Friday night had sacked Wickremesinghe and appointed Rajapaksa as the new prime minister in a surprise move that is being debated as a constitutional coup. Sirisena also suspended Parliament till November 16 after Wickremesinghe sought an emergency session to prove his majority. Rajapaksa was defeated in the 2015 presidential election by Sirisena who had the backing of Wickremesinghe's UNP. After a unity government, the political relationship soured between the two, leading to Wickremesinghe's sacking by Sirisena.

Sri Lanka president appoints new PM Rajapaksa as finance minister

Former Sri Lanka president <a href="http://www.wionews.com/south-asia/parliament-speaker-warns-of-bloodbath-in-sri-lanka-crisis-174162">Mahinda Rajapaksa on Monday</a> assumed charge as Sri Lanka's new prime minister after the surprise sacking of his predecessor Ranil Wickremesinghe by President Maithripala Sirisena which plunged the island nation into an unprecedented political crisis.

Rajapaksa assumed the duties in the prime minister's secretariat which was not used by the ousted prime minister Wickremesinghe, officials from his Sri Lanka People's Party (SLPP) said.

Sirisena on Friday night had sacked Wickremesinghe and appointed Rajapaksa as the new prime minister in a surprise move that is being debated as a constitutional coup.

Sirisena also suspended Parliament till November 16 after Wickremesinghe sought an emergency session to prove his majority.

On Sunday, Sri Lankan Parliament's Speaker Karu Jayasuriya recognised Wickremesinghe as the prime minister.

At least a few Cabinet members will to be sworn in later, the party officials said.

"There will be ministers of finance, law and order, foreign and home affairs who would be sworn in," said a spokesman of the SLPP.

Wickremesinghe continues to remain in his Temple Trees office cum residence of the prime minister.

President Sirisena has summoned the Colombo-based diplomats for a briefing at 5 pm on Monday.

He is facing international pressure over his controversial decision to suspend Parliament. UN chief Antonio Guterres and and the US State Department have called on the country's government to respect democratic values and constitutional provisions and process.

Speaker Jayasuriya, who had written to Sirisena over the issue of not consulting him in suspending parliament, visited the influential Buddhist chief monks in the central town of Kandy to apprise them on the ongoing political crisis.

Jayasuriya told them that convening Parliament was the only way to resolve the crisis.

Wickremesinghe's United National Party (UNP) said that at least 128 MPs in the 225-member assembly have signed to call for an immediate reconvening of parliament.

Rajapaksa was defeated in the 2015 presidential election by Sirisea who had the backing of Wickremesinghe's UNP. After a unity government, the political relationship soured between the two, leading to Wickremesinghe's sacking by Sirisena.

The second largest opposition group in Parliament Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) said they had asked the Speaker to convene parliament in order to end the political impasse. 
Rajapaksa in his statement last night called for a snap parliamentary election to end the impasse.

The UNP said they rejected all personal allegations made by President Sirisena against Wickremesinghe.

The city of Colombo was put under tight security with president Sirisena's official residence area being sealed off for normal traffic.

Former Sri Lanka president Mahinda Rajapaksa on Monday assumed charge as Sri Lanka's new prime minister after the surprise sacking of his predecessor Ranil Wickremesinghe by President Maithripala Sirisena which plunged the island nation into an unprecedented political crisis.

Former Sri Lanka president Mahinda Rajapaksa on Monday assumed charge as Sri Lanka's new prime minister after the surprise sacking of his predecessor Ranil Wickremesinghe by President Maithripala Sirisena which plunged the island nation into an unprecedented political crisis. Rajapaksa assumed the duties in the prime minister's secretariat which was not used by the ousted prime minister Wickremesinghe, officials from his Sri Lanka People's Party (SLPP) said. Sirisena on Friday night had sacked Wickremesinghe and appointed Rajapaksa as the new prime minister in a surprise move that is being debated as a constitutional coup. Sirisena also suspended Parliament till November 16 after Wickremesinghe sought an emergency session to prove his majority. On Sunday, Sri Lankan Parliament's Speaker Karu Jayasuriya recognised Wickremesinghe as the prime minister. At least a few Cabinet members will to be sworn in later, the party officials said. "There will be ministers of finance, law and order, foreign and home affairs who would be sworn in," said a spokesman of the SLPP. Wickremesinghe continues to remain in his Temple Trees office cum residence of the prime minister. President Sirisena has summoned the Colombo-based diplomats for a briefing at 5 pm on Monday. He is facing international pressure over his controversial decision to suspend Parliament. UN chief Antonio Guterres and and the US State Department have called on the country's government to respect democratic values and constitutional provisions and process. Speaker Jayasuriya, who had written to Sirisena over the issue of not consulting him in suspending parliament, visited the influential Buddhist chief monks in the central town of Kandy to apprise them on the ongoing political crisis. Jayasuriya told them that convening Parliament was the only way to resolve the crisis. Wickremesinghe's United National Party (UNP) said that at least 128 MPs in the 225-member assembly have signed to call for an immediate reconvening of parliament. Rajapaksa was defeated in the 2015 presidential election by Sirisea who had the backing of Wickremesinghe's UNP. After a unity government, the political relationship soured between the two, leading to Wickremesinghe's sacking by Sirisena. The second largest opposition group in Parliament Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) said they had asked the Speaker to convene parliament in order to end the political impasse. Rajapaksa in his statement last night called for a snap parliamentary election to end the impasse. The UNP said they rejected all personal allegations made by President Sirisena against Wickremesinghe. The city of Colombo was put under tight security with president Sirisena's official residence area being sealed off for normal traffic.

Mahinda Rajapaksa assumes charge as Sri Lanka's new prime minister

Amid the ongoing political turmoil in Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapakse, who was sworn in as the new Prime Minister, called for a snap parliamentary election to allow people vote for a new programme to overcome the island nation's economic and <a href="http://www.wionews.com/south-asia/one-dead-in-sri-lanka-shooting-as-political-crisis-deepens-174034">political crisis</a>.&nbsp;

In his first public statement after <a href="http://www.wionews.com/south-asia/sri-lanka-crisis-rajapaksa-camp-says-will-seize-pm-home-office-if-wickremesinghe-does-not-resign-today-173930">Maithripala Sirisena</a> appointed him as the new premier after sacking<a href="http://www.wionews.com/south-asia/sacked-sri-lanka-pm-wickremesinghe-stays-put-political-crisis-worsens-173975"> Ranil Wickremesinghe</a>, he said “The United National Party-United People’s Freedom Alliance (UNP-UPFA) government came to an end as the result of the UPFA leaving the coalition. I was invited to accept the position of PM with a view of forming a new govt.”

"The primary objective of the political party leaders and parliamentarians who have joined me is to immediately hold the provincial council elections that had been postponed continuously and also to call a parliamentary election as soon as possible so as to give the people the opportunity to vote for a programme that will bring the country out of the encompassing economic, political and social crisis," he said.&nbsp;

Rajapaksa said he agreed to become the prime minister as Sri Lankan economy was sinking. He also promised to eschew hate as he sets up an interim government, according to his statement.&nbsp;

However, Rajapaksa is expected to face challenges in the coming days as ousted PM Wickremesinghe had received the <a href="http://www.wionews.com/south-asia/sri-lanka-speaker-recognises-wickremesinghe-as-pm-173997">support of the Speaker</a>.

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Mahinda Rajapakse who has been recently appointed as the new Prime Minister of Sri Lanka issues statement, says,"The UNP-UPFA government came to an end as the result of the UPFA leaving the coalition. I was invited to accept the position of PM with a view of forming a new govt." <a href="https://t.co/QP2iOm3zQk">pic.twitter.com/QP2iOm3zQk</a>
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Amid the ongoing political turmoil in Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapakse, who was sworn in as the new Prime Minister, called for a snap parliamentary election to allow people vote for a new programme to overcome the island nation's economic and political crisis.

Amid the ongoing political turmoil in Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapakse, who was sworn in as the new Prime Minister, called for a snap parliamentary election to allow people vote for a new programme to overcome the island nation's economic and political crisis. In his first public statement after Maithripala Sirisena appointed him as the new premier after sacking Ranil Wickremesinghe, he said “The United National Party-United People’s Freedom Alliance (UNP-UPFA) government came to an end as the result of the UPFA leaving the coalition. I was invited to accept the position of PM with a view of forming a new govt.” "The primary objective of the political party leaders and parliamentarians who have joined me is to immediately hold the provincial council elections that had been postponed continuously and also to call a parliamentary election as soon as possible so as to give the people the opportunity to vote for a programme that will bring the country out of the encompassing economic, political and social crisis," he said. Rajapaksa said he agreed to become the prime minister as Sri Lankan economy was sinking. He also promised to eschew hate as he sets up an interim government, according to his statement. However, Rajapaksa is expected to face challenges in the coming days as ousted PM Wickremesinghe had received the support of the Speaker. Mahinda Rajapakse who has been recently appointed as the new Prime Minister of Sri Lanka issues statement, says,"The UNP-UPFA government came to an end as the result of the UPFA leaving the coalition. I was invited to accept the position of PM with a view of forming a new govt." pic.twitter.com/QP2iOm3zQk — ANI (@ANI) October 28, 2018 ×

Mahinda Rajapaksa justifies his appointment as PM, calls for snap parliamentary polls

Rajpaksa vows to 'eschew politics of hate'

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena will address the country today and a new cabinet will be announced Monday, news reports said Sunday.&nbsp;

Sirisena plunged the country into a full-blown constitutional crisis by sacking Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Friday. Sirisena then replaced Wickremesinghe with controversial strongman and former president Mahinda Rajapaksa&nbsp;

Wickremesinghe has called the move "unconstitutional". On Saturday, he demanded the Speaker call an emergency session of Parliament so that he could prove his majority on the floor of the house.&nbsp;

Sirisena responded by dissolving Parliament. Later on Saturday, he also withdrew Wickremesinghe's security.&nbsp;

On Saturday a government gazette said veteran civil servant S Amarasekera had been named Rajapaksa's secretary by Sirisena and Wickremesinghe's secretary Saman Ekanayake sacked.

The Rajapaksa camp meanwhile said they would seize the prime minister's official home and office — Temple Trees — if Wickremesinghe did not quit by Sunday.

The Rajapaksa camp has already started running the prime minister's secretariat with Amarasekera's appointment. They took control of the state TV stations on Friday night itself after Rajapaksa took oath as Sri Lanka's new prime minister.&nbsp;

India says it has been watching the "internal developments" oin the island nation closely. (Wickremesinghe is seen as leaning towards India, Sirisena towards China. Sirisena had accused India's Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) of <a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/sri-lanka-president-who-said-indias-raw-is-plotting-to-kill-him-tightens-security-172165">plotting to assassinate him</a>.)&nbsp;

China's Ambassador to Colombo, Cheng Xueya, meanwhile became the first envoy to meet Rajapaksa on Saturday. Cheng said he was bringing good wishes from President Xi Jinping.

Wickremesinghe, his officials said, held a briefing for Colombo-based Ambassadors to explain the situation to them.

Wickremesinghe says he still commands a majority in the 225-member Sri Lankan assembly.

The Rajapaksa-Sirisena combine has only 95 seats and is short of a simple majority in the 225-member house. Wickremesinghe's United National Party (UNP) has 106 seats on its own with just seven short of a majority.&nbsp;

(With inputs from PTI)

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena will address the country today and a new cabinet will be announced Monday, news reports said Sunday. Sirisena plunged the country into a full-blown constitutional crisis by sacking Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Friday.

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena will address the country today and a new cabinet will be announced Monday, news reports said Sunday. Sirisena plunged the country into a full-blown constitutional crisis by sacking Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Friday. Sirisena then replaced Wickremesinghe with controversial strongman and former president Mahinda Rajapaksa Wickremesinghe has called the move "unconstitutional". On Saturday, he demanded the Speaker call an emergency session of Parliament so that he could prove his majority on the floor of the house. Sirisena responded by dissolving Parliament. Later on Saturday, he also withdrew Wickremesinghe's security. On Saturday a government gazette said veteran civil servant S Amarasekera had been named Rajapaksa's secretary by Sirisena and Wickremesinghe's secretary Saman Ekanayake sacked. The Rajapaksa camp meanwhile said they would seize the prime minister's official home and office — Temple Trees — if Wickremesinghe did not quit by Sunday. The Rajapaksa camp has already started running the prime minister's secretariat with Amarasekera's appointment. They took control of the state TV stations on Friday night itself after Rajapaksa took oath as Sri Lanka's new prime minister. India says it has been watching the "internal developments" oin the island nation closely. (Wickremesinghe is seen as leaning towards India, Sirisena towards China. Sirisena had accused India's Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) of plotting to assassinate him.) China's Ambassador to Colombo, Cheng Xueya, meanwhile became the first envoy to meet Rajapaksa on Saturday. Cheng said he was bringing good wishes from President Xi Jinping. Wickremesinghe, his officials said, held a briefing for Colombo-based Ambassadors to explain the situation to them. Wickremesinghe says he still commands a majority in the 225-member Sri Lankan assembly. The Rajapaksa-Sirisena combine has only 95 seats and is short of a simple majority in the 225-member house. Wickremesinghe's United National Party (UNP) has 106 seats on its own with just seven short of a majority. (With inputs from PTI)

Sri Lanka crisis: Rajapaksa camp says will seize PM home, office if Wickremesinghe does not resign today

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena on Sunday defending his sudden political move said the main elective he was left with to set up another government was to name Mahinda Rajapaksa as Prime Minister.&nbsp;

Addressing the nation, President categorically stated that the appointment of Mahinda Rajapaksa as Prime Minister was totally in accordance with the Constitution and on the advice of legal experts. He totally rejected that charge that his action was a violation of the Constitution.&nbsp;

Full text of the President Maithripala Sirisena's address to the nation:&nbsp;

I have decided to address the nation today in the context of the recent political developments in the country, I thought it was essential to clarify the path we have to take in the future and to describe the reasons and the background, why the current political change was necessary.&nbsp;

Today, we are at the dawn of another year. On January 08, 2015, it was with so many expectations what nearly six million and two hundred thousand (6.25 million) people of my country chose me as your first servant and the leader of this nation. I wish to pledge that I will always fulfil the expectations and honour the trust and faith you have placed on me, even at the cost of my life.

Politicians like us who are committed to serve the people, should always look at what is right for the people and will usher prosperity to the nation, instead of one's political affiliations. I believe that you remember the circumstances under which I became the common candidate in 2014 and the dangers I had to face in consequence. It was a risk and a challenge that no politician in the history of the country wanted to accept. I faced this challenge despite the dangers to me and my family. I hope you will believe that the decision I took on 26th of October 2018, is a decision that is far more challenging and risky than the decision I took in November 21, 2014. I must state with respect, honour, and humility that I took both those decisions for the sake of the people and the country.&nbsp;

However, Hon. Ranil Wickremesinghe's political conduct was unbecoming of civilized politics and belittled the victory achieved risking my life in 2015. I believe that Mr Wickremesinghe and his group of closest friends, who belonged to a privileged class and did not understand the pulse of the people conducted themselves as if shaping the future of the country was a fun game they played. I feel that Hon Wickremesinghe grossly violated the very principles of good governance we pledged to uphold.

I am sure you remember that on the evening of January 09th, 2015, moments after taking oaths as President, I appointed Mr Wickremesinghe as the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka although he had only 47 members in the Parliament. However, I am sure you know that Mr Wickremesinghe destroyed the concept and the noble expectations of good governance by his actions during the last few years. Corruption and fraud spread widely in the country. Thereby, he destroyed the pure and noble expectations of the 49 political parties, organisations, trade unions, and civil society groups including the UNP, who signed an agreement in support of the common candidate. I hope you remember a statement I made recently at a Senanayake commemoration event. The political visions of great leaders such as D.S. Senanayake, Dudley Senanayake, J.R. Jayewardene, and Ranasinghe Premadasa made the UNP a mighty political party, enriched with indigenous thinking, our cultural heritage. They stood for the national identity and territorial integrity of the country. They were committed to protect everything what could be called 'ours'. It is my sincere hope that the present leadership of the UNP be blessed with the wisdom of those great leaders to embrace a vision with noble objectives that can take our country to the new world.

Once in the government, Mr Wickremesinghe arrogantly and stubbornly avoided collective decisions, and tended to take individual decisions. This behaviour led to many conflicts. Due to his lack of collective decision making through discussion, our country had to face harsh consequences when he used to take decisions with a group of his very close associates. I must state that, there was also a policy conflict between Hon. Ranil Wickremesinghe and me, during the last three and half years. Apart from a policy differences, I noted that there were also differences of culture between Mr Wickremesinghe and me. I believe that all those differences in policy, culture, personality and conduct aggravated this political and economic crisis.

When many senior leaders were around, I have suggested to him to work together and work collectively. I suggested to him that we should take our decisions after proper discussion to achieve the goals of good governance. However, he ignored the aspirations of over six million and two hundred thousand people. I am very worried about that. I accepted the leadership of this country to ensure creative governance upholding the principles of good governance and that is free of corruption or fraud. I always tried to bring in past experiences to understand present challenges and build a better tomorrow that in terms of our noble expectations. I committed myself to them fully. However, I had to take a few steps back many times. As you have seen, I had to speak somewhat aggressively from time to time during the last three years. On such occasions, you may have blamed me, called me immature, or getting too aggressive. However, it is my conscience that best knows how much patience and tolerance I have practiced in the internal discussions and at Cabinet meetings.

I made all those sacrifices for the sake of the people of Sri Lanka. However, you know how those noble expectations of the people who espoused the concept of good governance were betrayed even before three months elapsed since we were elected. The robbery of the Central Bank dragged our country into a deep crisis. As you know, we had not heard about such a big fraud of public finances in the history of Sri Lanka. The Central Bank robbery was an abortion of the pledge of good governance we had given to the people to eliminate corruption and fraud. I remember that there came a lot of resistance and protests from people, opposition parties, political groups, civil society and responsible people in the society, when the Central Bank robbery was committed. That led to a lot of tensions within the government. At that time, Mr Wickremesinghe behaved very impatiently and restlessly. When I decided to visit the Central Bank and meet the staff of the Bank, I remember, he suddenly came to my residence and asked me "the Central Bank belongs to me, why do you want to go there?" At that moment, I told him, "It is true that it has been gazetted under your purview, but as the President of the country, I have the right to visit that place." And I told him that I was planning to go to the Bank in a while anyway. Mr. Wirckremesinghe left immediately. When I got there, Mr. Arjun Mahendran, who has been sent on leave pending investigation, came to welcome me with a bunch of beetle leaves. I was surprised to see how he had got there all of a sudden. I saw how disturbed, restless and panicking they were. This shameless robbery led to a serious economic crisis and a political crisis. Then, I appointed a commission to investigate into the Central Bank issue in response to people's demand. When the Commission was carrying on the investigations independently, leaders of the UNP started pointing fingers at me. They asked why I appointed this commission. They considered this move was a disgrace to the UNP. But I assured them that the appointment of the Commission was necessary to clear those who are not involved and to bring to book those who were culprits. As you know, this robbery has dragged our country into deep economic crisis, from which it is difficult come out.

I believe that the result of the Local Government elections that was held last February was a warning by the people to correct the course of this government. At that moment, I called the Mr Wickremesinghe and other leaders of UNP and explained "People have taught us a lesson about the way we have governed, and we must correct ourselves now". And I told Mr Wickremesinghe "You have acquired my powers to do what you did, and I silently gave you that power in gratitude as you took leadership to bring me to power." As a result of my gratefulness, which is a noble human quality, the country had to suffer very bad consequences. That was because I allowed him to conduct freely, sometime even acquiring my powers. I do not wish to go into a detailed account of the negative consequences of his tenure. I wish to explain those consequences to you from time to time. I would now like to explain the most proximate and powerful reason that made me appoint the former President Mahinda Rajapaksa as Prime Minister and remove Hon. Ranil Wickremesinghe from the post of Prime Minister.

My political life is now spans over 51 years. Recently, a person called Namal kumara came before the media and disclosed about a plot to assassinate me and Mr Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. I handed over the task of investigations to Criminal Investigations Department. However, Inspector General of Police did not assign the investigations to CID. Instead it was given to another division. Then I realized that there was an issue of trust about the investigations. Within 48 hours of the disclosure made to the media by the person called Namal Kumara and investigations could be commenced on the plot, Inspector General of Police made a statement stating that there was a doubt about the voices in the tape recording provided by that person. I would like to raise the question, with respect, is it suitable for a Police chief to behave in such a shameless manner and express doubts about the recording, without seeking any technical expert advice on the tape recording, when there was a revelation that a plot was hatched to assassinate the President of the country?

The reports provided by the CID and other investigating authorities including the Intelligence Bureau showed that this is a very serious matter. In this plot, there is a wide range of information which has not been disclosed to the public.

There is also an involvement of a Cabinet Minister in this plot to assassinate me. Furthermore, there have been tremendous pressure on investigations. There were instances of some responsible officers of the Attorney General’s Department evading the investigation duties. 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. I extend an open invitation to all 225 honourable Members of parliament to join the new government. I do this with the pure intention of taking the country out of the present political crisis and economic problems. Now, the political crisis has been somewhat declined. I appeal to everybody to extend fullest cooperation to the new government formed by me with Mr Mahinda Rajapaksa as Prime minister to strengthen democratic governance, freedom of the people, human rights and fundamental rights and media freedom and take our Motherland towards prosperity and make a better and decent society.

While referring to past bitter experiences, I wish to reiterate here that Mr Ranil wickremesinghe must take the responsibility to bring Mr Arjuna Mahendran to Sri Lanka and produce him before courts. That is because, as everybody knows, Mr Arjuna Mahendran is a very close friend of Mr Ranil Wickremesinghe. Local industries of the country were weakened in the last few years and for them to recover, the blessings from the government alone are not enough.

In the last few years, the economic policy kept the trust merely on foreign investments and that weakened our local industries. On one side, the there were these weaknesses of the economic policy. At the same time, I ask you to examine what has happened to the amendments presented last week to the Commission I appointed to probe Bribery or corruption to bring to book those who are guilty of Central Bank Bond robbery. All those legal experts, Attorney-General’s Department, the members of the Commission on Bribery or Corruption and those who made investigations informed me earlier this year that it would take at least 15 years to punish the perpetrators of Central Bank Bond robbery under the existing laws in the country. Legal experts explained that more than 15 years will take to prosecute and punish the guilty and recover the money stolen by them. The Commission on Bribery or Corruption and Attorney-General’s Department recommended to make some amendments to the Commission Act, so that the guilty persons could be sentenced within one year and recover the huge amount of money they had stolen. Accordingly, we have drafted the amendments to the Act at the Presidential Secretariat and sent to the Parliament six months ago.

However, the amendment was not submitted for five months. It got buried in the Office of the Leader of House. I made serious inquiries into this. I asked the officials of the Commission on Bribery or Corruption. I asked the officers in the Attorney-General’s Department. Finally, the Amendment Bill to Act on Commission on Bribery or Corruption was presented to Parliament. I am sad to say that the Parliament postponed the approval of the Amendments Act indefinitely. Why was it deferred? For whose benefit? Due to pressure from whom? This will result in the country losing a large sum of money that belongs to the people.

It would take 15 to 20 years to mete out punishment to the guilty persons. That is why the Amendments Act was postponed indefinitely. You must have seen in media about the monetary deal of EAP company. That company was given to a foreigner. That deal was done fraudulently without calling for tenders. There will be a thorough investigation on this in near future. Many valuable assets were given to foreigners without tenders. Construction awards were also given without tenders. The emergency cabinet papers were presented to award such tenders and massive construction awards were given despite objections at the cabinet. One such example is the Kandy Highway project. Another is the Land Ordinance Special Act, which was presented to Cabinet last week. Then there was the paper on establishing a Land Bank. I lodged strong protests and postponed those cabinet papers. Majority of Cabinet Ministers were against these proposals.

If the last week’s Land Ordinance Special Act was passed by the Cabinet and then by the Parliament, all the lands of our Motherland could be bought outright by foreigners without any difficulty. All the agricultural settlements established by honourable leaders like D S Senanayake, Bandaranaike and Gamini Dissanayake will be destroyed. This bill presented under the political and economic vision of Mr Ranil Wickremesinghe to adversely affect the land rights of the country must be totally blocked by us.

I must also tell you that the committee set up by Mr Ranil Wickremesinghe to manage economy was totally fraudulent. The decisions taken by that committee were fraudulent. It was a major challenge to abolish it. As an alternative to that committee, I have established the National Economic Council. Mr Ranil Wickremesinghe has taken everything possible to weaken that Commission. The monthly emoluments for the economic expert, who was appointed the head the Commission was paid by an international monetary institution respected by all of us. On Mr Wickremesinghe’s advise, that payment was stopped. Mr Wickremesinghe took steps to prevent the Commission from functioning. I clearly state that this crisis situation has emerged due to Mr Wickremesinghe’s stubborn decisions. 
Because of all these issues, the only alternative I was left with was to establish a new government with Mr Mahinda Rajapaksa as Prime Minister. Mr Ranil wickremesinghe and the UNP complain that the establishment of a new government and appointment of Mr Mahinda Rajapaksa as Prime Minister was contradictory to the provisions of the Constitution of Sri Lanka. I categorically state that the appointments were made totally in accordance with the Constitution and the on advice of legal experts. No constitutional violation was done when appointments were made and removal was enacted. With all respect, I completely reject the charge that what was done was a violation of the Constitution.

I wish to thank the people of the country, public officials, Police, security forces, Army, Navy and Air Force and others for the support extended to me by strengthening law and order, strengthening democratic structure and facilitating the day-to-day needs of the people. While concluding the speech, I appeal to UNPers who made a broad commitment to make me President to jointly commit ourselves to achieve that beautiful vision for our Motherland. I am confident that if a leader with a vision, who values what is local, who understands the common man’s feelings, values the vision and policies of Senanayakes, Jayewardene and Premadasa becomes the leader of your UNP in the future, we will be able to achieve those noble objectives. Finally, I appeal to the Mahasangha, other religious leaders, politicians, all the publc servants, and all the citizens to give your blessings and support to the political decision I have taken on behalf of the country and the people to end the economic crisis and political turbulence and build a prosperous economy and a decent, spiritual, enlightened society.

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena on Sunday defending his sudden political move said the main elective he was left with to set up another government was to name Mahinda Rajapaksa as Prime Minister.

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena on Sunday defending his sudden political move said the main elective he was left with to set up another government was to name Mahinda Rajapaksa as Prime Minister. Addressing the nation, President categorically stated that the appointment of Mahinda Rajapaksa as Prime Minister was totally in accordance with the Constitution and on the advice of legal experts. He totally rejected that charge that his action was a violation of the Constitution. Full text of the President Maithripala Sirisena's address to the nation: I have decided to address the nation today in the context of the recent political developments in the country, I thought it was essential to clarify the path we have to take in the future and to describe the reasons and the background, why the current political change was necessary. Today, we are at the dawn of another year. On January 08, 2015, it was with so many expectations what nearly six million and two hundred thousand (6.25 million) people of my country chose me as your first servant and the leader of this nation. I wish to pledge that I will always fulfil the expectations and honour the trust and faith you have placed on me, even at the cost of my life. Politicians like us who are committed to serve the people, should always look at what is right for the people and will usher prosperity to the nation, instead of one's political affiliations. I believe that you remember the circumstances under which I became the common candidate in 2014 and the dangers I had to face in consequence. It was a risk and a challenge that no politician in the history of the country wanted to accept. I faced this challenge despite the dangers to me and my family. I hope you will believe that the decision I took on 26th of October 2018, is a decision that is far more challenging and risky than the decision I took in November 21, 2014. I must state with respect, honour, and humility that I took both those decisions for the sake of the people and the country. However, Hon. Ranil Wickremesinghe's political conduct was unbecoming of civilized politics and belittled the victory achieved risking my life in 2015. I believe that Mr Wickremesinghe and his group of closest friends, who belonged to a privileged class and did not understand the pulse of the people conducted themselves as if shaping the future of the country was a fun game they played. I feel that Hon Wickremesinghe grossly violated the very principles of good governance we pledged to uphold. I am sure you remember that on the evening of January 09th, 2015, moments after taking oaths as President, I appointed Mr Wickremesinghe as the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka although he had only 47 members in the Parliament. However, I am sure you know that Mr Wickremesinghe destroyed the concept and the noble expectations of good governance by his actions during the last few years. Corruption and fraud spread widely in the country. Thereby, he destroyed the pure and noble expectations of the 49 political parties, organisations, trade unions, and civil society groups including the UNP, who signed an agreement in support of the common candidate. I hope you remember a statement I made recently at a Senanayake commemoration event. The political visions of great leaders such as D.S. Senanayake, Dudley Senanayake, J.R. Jayewardene, and Ranasinghe Premadasa made the UNP a mighty political party, enriched with indigenous thinking, our cultural heritage. They stood for the national identity and territorial integrity of the country. They were committed to protect everything what could be called 'ours'. It is my sincere hope that the present leadership of the UNP be blessed with the wisdom of those great leaders to embrace a vision with noble objectives that can take our country to the new world. Once in the government, Mr Wickremesinghe arrogantly and stubbornly avoided collective decisions, and tended to take individual decisions. This behaviour led to many conflicts. Due to his lack of collective decision making through discussion, our country had to face harsh consequences when he used to take decisions with a group of his very close associates. I must state that, there was also a policy conflict between Hon. Ranil Wickremesinghe and me, during the last three and half years. Apart from a policy differences, I noted that there were also differences of culture between Mr Wickremesinghe and me. I believe that all those differences in policy, culture, personality and conduct aggravated this political and economic crisis. When many senior leaders were around, I have suggested to him to work together and work collectively. I suggested to him that we should take our decisions after proper discussion to achieve the goals of good governance. However, he ignored the aspirations of over six million and two hundred thousand people. I am very worried about that. I accepted the leadership of this country to ensure creative governance upholding the principles of good governance and that is free of corruption or fraud. I always tried to bring in past experiences to understand present challenges and build a better tomorrow that in terms of our noble expectations. I committed myself to them fully. However, I had to take a few steps back many times. As you have seen, I had to speak somewhat aggressively from time to time during the last three years. On such occasions, you may have blamed me, called me immature, or getting too aggressive. However, it is my conscience that best knows how much patience and tolerance I have practiced in the internal discussions and at Cabinet meetings. I made all those sacrifices for the sake of the people of Sri Lanka. However, you know how those noble expectations of the people who espoused the concept of good governance were betrayed even before three months elapsed since we were elected. The robbery of the Central Bank dragged our country into a deep crisis. As you know, we had not heard about such a big fraud of public finances in the history of Sri Lanka. The Central Bank robbery was an abortion of the pledge of good governance we had given to the people to eliminate corruption and fraud. I remember that there came a lot of resistance and protests from people, opposition parties, political groups, civil society and responsible people in the society, when the Central Bank robbery was committed. That led to a lot of tensions within the government. At that time, Mr Wickremesinghe behaved very impatiently and restlessly. When I decided to visit the Central Bank and meet the staff of the Bank, I remember, he suddenly came to my residence and asked me "the Central Bank belongs to me, why do you want to go there?" At that moment, I told him, "It is true that it has been gazetted under your purview, but as the President of the country, I have the right to visit that place." And I told him that I was planning to go to the Bank in a while anyway. Mr. Wirckremesinghe left immediately. When I got there, Mr. Arjun Mahendran, who has been sent on leave pending investigation, came to welcome me with a bunch of beetle leaves. I was surprised to see how he had got there all of a sudden. I saw how disturbed, restless and panicking they were. This shameless robbery led to a serious economic crisis and a political crisis. Then, I appointed a commission to investigate into the Central Bank issue in response to people's demand. When the Commission was carrying on the investigations independently, leaders of the UNP started pointing fingers at me. They asked why I appointed this commission. They considered this move was a disgrace to the UNP. But I assured them that the appointment of the Commission was necessary to clear those who are not involved and to bring to book those who were culprits. As you know, this robbery has dragged our country into deep economic crisis, from which it is difficult come out. I believe that the result of the Local Government elections that was held last February was a warning by the people to correct the course of this government. At that moment, I called the Mr Wickremesinghe and other leaders of UNP and explained "People have taught us a lesson about the way we have governed, and we must correct ourselves now". And I told Mr Wickremesinghe "You have acquired my powers to do what you did, and I silently gave you that power in gratitude as you took leadership to bring me to power." As a result of my gratefulness, which is a noble human quality, the country had to suffer very bad consequences. That was because I allowed him to conduct freely, sometime even acquiring my powers. I do not wish to go into a detailed account of the negative consequences of his tenure. I wish to explain those consequences to you from time to time. I would now like to explain the most proximate and powerful reason that made me appoint the former President Mahinda Rajapaksa as Prime Minister and remove Hon. Ranil Wickremesinghe from the post of Prime Minister. My political life is now spans over 51 years. Recently, a person called Namal kumara came before the media and disclosed about a plot to assassinate me and Mr Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. I handed over the task of investigations to Criminal Investigations Department. However, Inspector General of Police did not assign the investigations to CID. Instead it was given to another division. Then I realized that there was an issue of trust about the investigations. Within 48 hours of the disclosure made to the media by the person called Namal Kumara and investigations could be commenced on the plot, Inspector General of Police made a statement stating that there was a doubt about the voices in the tape recording provided by that person. I would like to raise the question, with respect, is it suitable for a Police chief to behave in such a shameless manner and express doubts about the recording, without seeking any technical expert advice on the tape recording, when there was a revelation that a plot was hatched to assassinate the President of the country? The reports provided by the CID and other investigating authorities including the Intelligence Bureau showed that this is a very serious matter. In this plot, there is a wide range of information which has not been disclosed to the public. There is also an involvement of a Cabinet Minister in this plot to assassinate me. Furthermore, there have been tremendous pressure on investigations. There were instances of some responsible officers of the Attorney General’s Department evading the investigation duties. 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. I extend an open invitation to all 225 honourable Members of parliament to join the new government. I do this with the pure intention of taking the country out of the present political crisis and economic problems. Now, the political crisis has been somewhat declined. I appeal to everybody to extend fullest cooperation to the new government formed by me with Mr Mahinda Rajapaksa as Prime minister to strengthen democratic governance, freedom of the people, human rights and fundamental rights and media freedom and take our Motherland towards prosperity and make a better and decent society. While referring to past bitter experiences, I wish to reiterate here that Mr Ranil wickremesinghe must take the responsibility to bring Mr Arjuna Mahendran to Sri Lanka and produce him before courts. That is because, as everybody knows, Mr Arjuna Mahendran is a very close friend of Mr Ranil Wickremesinghe. Local industries of the country were weakened in the last few years and for them to recover, the blessings from the government alone are not enough. In the last few years, the economic policy kept the trust merely on foreign investments and that weakened our local industries. On one side, the there were these weaknesses of the economic policy. At the same time, I ask you to examine what has happened to the amendments presented last week to the Commission I appointed to probe Bribery or corruption to bring to book those who are guilty of Central Bank Bond robbery. All those legal experts, Attorney-General’s Department, the members of the Commission on Bribery or Corruption and those who made investigations informed me earlier this year that it would take at least 15 years to punish the perpetrators of Central Bank Bond robbery under the existing laws in the country. Legal experts explained that more than 15 years will take to prosecute and punish the guilty and recover the money stolen by them. The Commission on Bribery or Corruption and Attorney-General’s Department recommended to make some amendments to the Commission Act, so that the guilty persons could be sentenced within one year and recover the huge amount of money they had stolen. Accordingly, we have drafted the amendments to the Act at the Presidential Secretariat and sent to the Parliament six months ago. However, the amendment was not submitted for five months. It got buried in the Office of the Leader of House. I made serious inquiries into this. I asked the officials of the Commission on Bribery or Corruption. I asked the officers in the Attorney-General’s Department. Finally, the Amendment Bill to Act on Commission on Bribery or Corruption was presented to Parliament. I am sad to say that the Parliament postponed the approval of the Amendments Act indefinitely. Why was it deferred? For whose benefit? Due to pressure from whom? This will result in the country losing a large sum of money that belongs to the people. It would take 15 to 20 years to mete out punishment to the guilty persons. That is why the Amendments Act was postponed indefinitely. You must have seen in media about the monetary deal of EAP company. That company was given to a foreigner. That deal was done fraudulently without calling for tenders. There will be a thorough investigation on this in near future. Many valuable assets were given to foreigners without tenders. Construction awards were also given without tenders. The emergency cabinet papers were presented to award such tenders and massive construction awards were given despite objections at the cabinet. One such example is the Kandy Highway project. Another is the Land Ordinance Special Act, which was presented to Cabinet last week. Then there was the paper on establishing a Land Bank. I lodged strong protests and postponed those cabinet papers. Majority of Cabinet Ministers were against these proposals. If the last week’s Land Ordinance Special Act was passed by the Cabinet and then by the Parliament, all the lands of our Motherland could be bought outright by foreigners without any difficulty. All the agricultural settlements established by honourable leaders like D S Senanayake, Bandaranaike and Gamini Dissanayake will be destroyed. This bill presented under the political and economic vision of Mr Ranil Wickremesinghe to adversely affect the land rights of the country must be totally blocked by us. I must also tell you that the committee set up by Mr Ranil Wickremesinghe to manage economy was totally fraudulent. The decisions taken by that committee were fraudulent. It was a major challenge to abolish it. As an alternative to that committee, I have established the National Economic Council. Mr Ranil Wickremesinghe has taken everything possible to weaken that Commission. The monthly emoluments for the economic expert, who was appointed the head the Commission was paid by an international monetary institution respected by all of us. On Mr Wickremesinghe’s advise, that payment was stopped. Mr Wickremesinghe took steps to prevent the Commission from functioning. I clearly state that this crisis situation has emerged due to Mr Wickremesinghe’s stubborn decisions. Because of all these issues, the only alternative I was left with was to establish a new government with Mr Mahinda Rajapaksa as Prime Minister. Mr Ranil wickremesinghe and the UNP complain that the establishment of a new government and appointment of Mr Mahinda Rajapaksa as Prime Minister was contradictory to the provisions of the Constitution of Sri Lanka. I categorically state that the appointments were made totally in accordance with the Constitution and the on advice of legal experts. No constitutional violation was done when appointments were made and removal was enacted. With all respect, I completely reject the charge that what was done was a violation of the Constitution. I wish to thank the people of the country, public officials, Police, security forces, Army, Navy and Air Force and others for the support extended to me by strengthening law and order, strengthening democratic structure and facilitating the day-to-day needs of the people. While concluding the speech, I appeal to UNPers who made a broad commitment to make me President to jointly commit ourselves to achieve that beautiful vision for our Motherland. I am confident that if a leader with a vision, who values what is local, who understands the common man’s feelings, values the vision and policies of Senanayakes, Jayewardene and Premadasa becomes the leader of your UNP in the future, we will be able to achieve those noble objectives. Finally, I appeal to the Mahasangha, other religious leaders, politicians, all the publc servants, and all the citizens to give your blessings and support to the political decision I have taken on behalf of the country and the people to end the economic crisis and political turbulence and build a prosperous economy and a decent, spiritual, enlightened society.

Mahinda Rajapaksa as PM totally in accordance with constitution: Sri Lanka President

Sri Lanka's sacked prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe <a href="http://www.wionews.com/south-asia/sri-lanka-crisis-rajapaksa-camp-says-will-seize-pm-home-office-if-wickremesinghe-does-not-resign-today-173930">resisted moves to evict him from his official residence</a> Sunday, defiantly summoning allies for a crisis meeting as a thousand supporters stood guard.

Wickremesinghe, who says his shock dismissal on Friday was illegal, ignored a deadline to vacate the colonial-era residence, even as his controversial successor sought blessings at a prominent temple ahead of naming a new cabinet.

Officials said police will now seek a court order to evict Wickremesinghe, 69, threatening to escalate the standoff as neighbours and Western nations asked all sides to exercise restraint and respect the constitution.

Also read: <a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/hope-democratic-values-will-be-respected-india-on-political-turmoil-in-sri-lanka-173970">Hope democratic values will be respected, says India</a>

About 1,000 of his supporters gathered outside the Temple Trees residence, with troops seen nearby, but there was no sign of an intervention into the dispute.

Wickremesinghe's security and official cars were withdrawn by President Maithripala Sirisena on Saturday, as the ousted prime minister demanded an emergency session to prove he still commanded a majority in parliament.

Instead, Sirisena shut parliament for nearly three weeks to forestall any challenge against his appointment of former strongman Mahinda Rajapakse as the new prime minister.

Loyalists to Rajapakse, whose decade-long rule was marked by grave allegations of rights abuses and growing authoritarianism, still control the headquarters of two state-run television channels.

All police leave was cancelled as tensions heightened in Colombo, with soldiers seen near the prime minister's residence as well as the president's office.

International concern 
Meanwhile, Rajapakse travelled to a highly venerated Buddhist temple in the central district of Kandy to seek blessings from monks before naming a cabinet.

Rajapakse's aides said he was likely to name a few cabinet ministers later Sunday and begin work on Monday.&nbsp;

He is yet to make a formal statement or address the nation since being elevated to the new post.

The former strongman is a controversial figure at home and abroad and presided over the crushing of a decades-long Tamil Tiger uprising.

He is seen as being closer to China than Wickremesinghe, who had sought to re-establish stronger ties with traditional ally and regional power India.

The crisis has again put the Indian Ocean in the international spotlight following turmoil in the neighbouring Maldives over its presidential election.

India said it was "closely following" events in Colombo.

"As a democracy and a close friendly neighbour, we hope that democratic values and the constitutional process will be respected," India's foreign ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar said Sunday.

The United States and European Union ambassadors in Colombo have called on the Sri Lankan rivals to follow the constitution and avoid violence.

China's ambassador to Colombo met separately with Rajapakse and Wickremesinghe on Saturday, officials said.

Colombo-based Western diplomats met with Wickremesinghe for a briefing on the sacking.

'Constitutional coup' 
The suspension of parliament has made it difficult for speaker Karu Jayasuriya, who comes from Wickremesinghe's party, to announce which of the two rivals he recognises.&nbsp;

Many observers now expect the crisis to turn into a series of court battles.

Privately-run newspapers on Sunday described Sirisena's move as a "constitutional coup".

Political commentator Victor Ivan said Sirisena's action was a blatant violation of the constitution and "a capture of power through a conspiracy".

However, Rajapakse loyalist and former foreign minister G. L. Peiris said there was nothing illegal about sacking Wickremesinghe and challenged him to prove his majority when parliament returns on November 16.

The falling out between Wickremesinghe and Sirisena has come to a head since the president this year backed a no-confidence motion against the man he had handpicked to lead the government.

The two allied against Rajapakse in the 2015 election, but their relationship steadily soured.

Sirisena initially said he would be a one-term president but has since indicated he will seek re-election next year, pitting himself against Wickremesinghe who also has presidential ambitions.

Wickremesinghe's party has the largest number of parliamentary seats, but the president's United People's Freedom Alliance walked out of the coalition shortly before Wickremesinghe was sacked.

This is the second time that a president has ousted Wickremesinghe from office. In 2004, the then president sacked him and called snap elections.

After winning the premiership a third time in August 2015, Wickremesinghe amended the constitution to remove the head of state's power to sack prime ministers to prevent a repeat of his earlier ouster.

Sri Lanka's sacked prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe resisted moves to evict him from his official residence Sunday, defiantly summoning allies for a crisis meeting as a thousand supporters stood guard.

Sri Lanka's sacked prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe resisted moves to evict him from his official residence Sunday, defiantly summoning allies for a crisis meeting as a thousand supporters stood guard. Wickremesinghe, who says his shock dismissal on Friday was illegal, ignored a deadline to vacate the colonial-era residence, even as his controversial successor sought blessings at a prominent temple ahead of naming a new cabinet. Officials said police will now seek a court order to evict Wickremesinghe, 69, threatening to escalate the standoff as neighbours and Western nations asked all sides to exercise restraint and respect the constitution. Also read: Hope democratic values will be respected, says India About 1,000 of his supporters gathered outside the Temple Trees residence, with troops seen nearby, but there was no sign of an intervention into the dispute. Wickremesinghe's security and official cars were withdrawn by President Maithripala Sirisena on Saturday, as the ousted prime minister demanded an emergency session to prove he still commanded a majority in parliament. Instead, Sirisena shut parliament for nearly three weeks to forestall any challenge against his appointment of former strongman Mahinda Rajapakse as the new prime minister. Loyalists to Rajapakse, whose decade-long rule was marked by grave allegations of rights abuses and growing authoritarianism, still control the headquarters of two state-run television channels. All police leave was cancelled as tensions heightened in Colombo, with soldiers seen near the prime minister's residence as well as the president's office. International concern Meanwhile, Rajapakse travelled to a highly venerated Buddhist temple in the central district of Kandy to seek blessings from monks before naming a cabinet. Rajapakse's aides said he was likely to name a few cabinet ministers later Sunday and begin work on Monday. He is yet to make a formal statement or address the nation since being elevated to the new post. The former strongman is a controversial figure at home and abroad and presided over the crushing of a decades-long Tamil Tiger uprising. He is seen as being closer to China than Wickremesinghe, who had sought to re-establish stronger ties with traditional ally and regional power India. The crisis has again put the Indian Ocean in the international spotlight following turmoil in the neighbouring Maldives over its presidential election. India said it was "closely following" events in Colombo. "As a democracy and a close friendly neighbour, we hope that democratic values and the constitutional process will be respected," India's foreign ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar said Sunday. The United States and European Union ambassadors in Colombo have called on the Sri Lankan rivals to follow the constitution and avoid violence. China's ambassador to Colombo met separately with Rajapakse and Wickremesinghe on Saturday, officials said. Colombo-based Western diplomats met with Wickremesinghe for a briefing on the sacking. 'Constitutional coup' The suspension of parliament has made it difficult for speaker Karu Jayasuriya, who comes from Wickremesinghe's party, to announce which of the two rivals he recognises. Many observers now expect the crisis to turn into a series of court battles. Privately-run newspapers on Sunday described Sirisena's move as a "constitutional coup". Political commentator Victor Ivan said Sirisena's action was a blatant violation of the constitution and "a capture of power through a conspiracy". However, Rajapakse loyalist and former foreign minister G. L. Peiris said there was nothing illegal about sacking Wickremesinghe and challenged him to prove his majority when parliament returns on November 16. The falling out between Wickremesinghe and Sirisena has come to a head since the president this year backed a no-confidence motion against the man he had handpicked to lead the government. The two allied against Rajapakse in the 2015 election, but their relationship steadily soured. Sirisena initially said he would be a one-term president but has since indicated he will seek re-election next year, pitting himself against Wickremesinghe who also has presidential ambitions. Wickremesinghe's party has the largest number of parliamentary seats, but the president's United People's Freedom Alliance walked out of the coalition shortly before Wickremesinghe was sacked. This is the second time that a president has ousted Wickremesinghe from office. In 2004, the then president sacked him and called snap elections. After winning the premiership a third time in August 2015, Wickremesinghe amended the constitution to remove the head of state's power to sack prime ministers to prevent a repeat of his earlier ouster.

Sacked Sri Lanka PM Wickremesinghe stays put, political crisis worsens

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India-Sri Lanka relationship has been marked by several high-level exchanges in the last couple of months.&nbsp;

Not to mention several pacts that the both&nbsp;countries have inked over the last two years despite New Delhi's concerns over China's acquisition of Hambantota port and its other projects in the island nation.&nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
All three&nbsp;key players of Sri Lanka -- Maithripala Sirisena, Mahinda Rajapaksa and Ranil Wickremesinghe -- either paid visits to New Delhi or were in touch with the leadership in India on a regular basis.&nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
Mahinda Rajapaksa visited New Delhi accompanied by his son Namal Rajapaksa last month. During his visit, he met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Opposition leader and Congress president Rahul Gandhi. The island nation's former president also took to Twitter to wish Prime Minister Modi and BJP leader Subramaniam Swamy on their respective birthdays.&nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
Ranil Wickremesinghe has always favoured India over China. According to a media report, Wickremesinghe's strongly-worded statement from New Delhi soon after his meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 20, precipitated the final crisis before the fall. The statement targeted the President Sirisena, almost holding him directly responsible for the delay in Indian projects in the island nation.&nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
Wickremesinghe was on an official visit to India from the 18th to the 20th of October, accompanied by his wife and a group of ministers. Besides Modi, Wickremesinghe met senior leaders Rajnath Singh and Sushma Swaraj.&nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
Sirisena met Modi during the BIMSTEC summit in Nepal. The two leaders also discussed various development cooperation programmes on the occasion.&nbsp;
</div>

India-Sri Lanka relationship has been marked by several high-level exchanges in the last couple of months. Not to mention several pacts that the both countries have inked over the last two years despite New Delhi's concerns over China's acquisition of Hambantota port and its other projects in the island nation.

India-Sri Lanka relationship has been marked by several high-level exchanges in the last couple of months. Not to mention several pacts that the both countries have inked over the last two years despite New Delhi's concerns over China's acquisition of Hambantota port and its other projects in the island nation. All three key players of Sri Lanka -- Maithripala Sirisena, Mahinda Rajapaksa and Ranil Wickremesinghe -- either paid visits to New Delhi or were in touch with the leadership in India on a regular basis. Mahinda Rajapaksa visited New Delhi accompanied by his son Namal Rajapaksa last month. During his visit, he met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Opposition leader and Congress president Rahul Gandhi. The island nation's former president also took to Twitter to wish Prime Minister Modi and BJP leader Subramaniam Swamy on their respective birthdays. Ranil Wickremesinghe has always favoured India over China. According to a media report, Wickremesinghe's strongly-worded statement from New Delhi soon after his meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 20, precipitated the final crisis before the fall. The statement targeted the President Sirisena, almost holding him directly responsible for the delay in Indian projects in the island nation. Wickremesinghe was on an official visit to India from the 18th to the 20th of October, accompanied by his wife and a group of ministers. Besides Modi, Wickremesinghe met senior leaders Rajnath Singh and Sushma Swaraj. Sirisena met Modi during the BIMSTEC summit in Nepal. The two leaders also discussed various development cooperation programmes on the occasion.

Sri Lanka's tryst with India and events that shaped strong ties

Ranil Wickremesinghe, who was sacked as prime minister of Sri Lanka,&nbsp;told a local television channel that he was still the prime minister according to the constitution, despite President Maithripala Sirisena swearing in his predecessor<a href="http://www.wionews.com/south-asia/sri-lankas-ex-president-mahinda-rajapaksa-sworn-in-as-new-prime-minister-173703"> Mahinda Rajapaksa </a>earlier in the day, Reuters reported.

"I retain the confidence of the house. I am the prime minister and I have the majority. According to the constitution, I'm the prime minister," Wickremesinghe said.

Wickremesinghe said he will challenge his ouster in court.

"This is not legal," he said, referring to his dismissal and the appointment of controversial former strongman president Mahinda Rajapakse to replace him. "I will go to court."

Wickremesinghe said he still retained a majority in the 225-member parliament, although Sirisena's United People's Freedom Alliance had withdrawn from the coalition government shortly before his sacking.

(With inputs from agencies)

Ranil Wickremesinghe, who was sacked as prime minister of Sri Lanka, told a local television channel that he was still the prime minister according to the constitution, despite President Maithripala Sirisena swearing in his predecessor Mahinda Rajapaksa earlier in the day, Reuters reported.

Ranil Wickremesinghe, who was sacked as prime minister of Sri Lanka, told a local television channel that he was still the prime minister according to the constitution, despite President Maithripala Sirisena swearing in his predecessor Mahinda Rajapaksa earlier in the day, Reuters reported. "I retain the confidence of the house. I am the prime minister and I have the majority. According to the constitution, I'm the prime minister," Wickremesinghe said. Wickremesinghe said he will challenge his ouster in court. "This is not legal," he said, referring to his dismissal and the appointment of controversial former strongman president Mahinda Rajapakse to replace him. "I will go to court." Wickremesinghe said he still retained a majority in the 225-member parliament, although Sirisena's United People's Freedom Alliance had withdrawn from the coalition government shortly before his sacking. (With inputs from agencies)

Ranil Wickremesinghe says he is still Sri Lanka PM, will challenge ouster in court

The sudden regime change in Sri Lanka encompasses "several mysteries" and has triggered concerns among Tamil Nadu fishermen and Tamils in the island nation, DMK leader MK Stalin said on Saturday.

Stalin, the leader of opposition in the assembly, said the return of Sri Lanka's former president Mahinda Rajapaksa as the country's new prime minister has shocked Tamils across the world.

"The changes that have occurred in the Sri Lankan government in a single night encompasses several mysteries and have threatened the Tamils there who are denied their rights," he alleged.

Also, the developments have triggered concerns among Tamil Nadu fishermen, he added.

Stalin cited the recent Delhi visits of Rajapaksa and Ranil Wickremesinghe and media reports about Sirisena alleging that Indian intelligence agency RAW hatched a plot to assassinate him.&nbsp;

Sirisena, however, later denied making such allegations.&nbsp;

The background to Rajapaksa assuming office all of a sudden as Sri Lanka's premier, though he doesn't have a majority, has shocked Tamils, Stalin claimed.

The DMK chief alleged that Rajapaksa was behind the killings of Tamil people (during the civil war between Sri Lankan Army and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in 2009) and Tamil Nadu fishermen at the hands of Lankan Navy during his tenure.

Ousted Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe Saturday sought an emergency session of Parliament to prove his majority, as the island nation plunged into a constitutional crisis after President Maithripala Sirisena sacked him and made former strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa the new premier.

Stalin said that "if such a situation continued in Sri Lanka", it would become a challenge to India's interests. He asked the Centre to give clarifications on the recent visits of Lankan leaders and the allegations drawing RAW into a controversy.

Referring to the Tamil Nadu government's recent recommendation to Governor Banwarilal Purohit to release all convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, the DMK leader asked the Centre to devote its "attention" to the matter and urged Purohit to take a favourable decision.&nbsp;

The sudden regime change in Sri Lanka encompasses "several mysteries" and has triggered concerns among Tamil Nadu fishermen and Tamils in the island nation, DMK leader MK Stalin said on Saturday.

The sudden regime change in Sri Lanka encompasses "several mysteries" and has triggered concerns among Tamil Nadu fishermen and Tamils in the island nation, DMK leader MK Stalin said on Saturday. Stalin, the leader of opposition in the assembly, said the return of Sri Lanka's former president Mahinda Rajapaksa as the country's new prime minister has shocked Tamils across the world. "The changes that have occurred in the Sri Lankan government in a single night encompasses several mysteries and have threatened the Tamils there who are denied their rights," he alleged. Also, the developments have triggered concerns among Tamil Nadu fishermen, he added. Stalin cited the recent Delhi visits of Rajapaksa and Ranil Wickremesinghe and media reports about Sirisena alleging that Indian intelligence agency RAW hatched a plot to assassinate him. Sirisena, however, later denied making such allegations. The background to Rajapaksa assuming office all of a sudden as Sri Lanka's premier, though he doesn't have a majority, has shocked Tamils, Stalin claimed. The DMK chief alleged that Rajapaksa was behind the killings of Tamil people (during the civil war between Sri Lankan Army and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in 2009) and Tamil Nadu fishermen at the hands of Lankan Navy during his tenure. Ousted Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe Saturday sought an emergency session of Parliament to prove his majority, as the island nation plunged into a constitutional crisis after President Maithripala Sirisena sacked him and made former strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa the new premier. Stalin said that "if such a situation continued in Sri Lanka", it would become a challenge to India's interests. He asked the Centre to give clarifications on the recent visits of Lankan leaders and the allegations drawing RAW into a controversy. Referring to the Tamil Nadu government's recent recommendation to Governor Banwarilal Purohit to release all convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, the DMK leader asked the Centre to devote its "attention" to the matter and urged Purohit to take a favourable decision.

Political developments in Sri Lanka 'mysterious'; triggering concerns among Tamils: MK Stalin

Sri&nbsp;Lankan opposition leader Mahinda Rajapaksa was appointed prime minister on Friday after President Maithripala Sirisena dismissed the incumbent in a surprise move that threatens political turmoil in the Indian Ocean nation.

Rajapaksa, a former pro-China president, ushered in billions of dollars of investment from Beijing to help rebuild the country following the end of a 26-year civil war against Tamil separatists in 2009.

But that investment has since put the tiny island in debt and forced it to hand over control of a strategic southern port to China, seen as part of Beijing's Belt and Road initiative, drawing criticism from India and the United States.

President Sirisena administered the oath of office to Rajapaksa after sacking premier Ranil Wickremesinghe, who was away touring the south of the country, following months of infighting.

But Wickremesinghe later told reporters he remained the prime minister. "I have the majority and I remain as the prime minister and I will function as the prime minister," he said.

Under&nbsp;Sri&nbsp;Lanka's constitution, modelled on the French system of government, the president has executive powers while the prime minister heads the parliament.

There was no immediate reaction from India which has long seen&nbsp;Sri&nbsp;Lanka, located just off its southern tip, as part of its area of influence and had been concerned about Rajapaksa's wooing of China. Both Rajapaksa and Wickremesinghe were in India and met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in recent weeks.

Underlining the risk of chaos in the islands, where the government had been under pressure over a misfiring economy, Media and Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera said on Twitter that the appointment of Rajapaksa as prime minister was a violation of the constitution, which was amended in 2015 to curtail the powers of the president.

"This is an anti-democratic coup," Samaraweera tweeted.

State-run Rupavahini briefly went off-air when three ministers, including Samaraweera and Cabinet Spokesman Rajitha Senaratne, tried to address the nation during a live programme.

Earlier Sirisensa's United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) had said it would quit the ruling coalition, capping months of rising tensions between the president's bloc and Wickremesinghe's centre-right United National Party (UNP).

UPFA lawmaker Susil Premajayantha told reporters that a new cabinet would be sworn in soon.

Sri&nbsp;Lanka's US $87 billion economy has been under pressure in recent years, with growth slowing to a 16-year low of 3.3 per cent last year due to tight monetary and fiscal conditions, droughts and floods.

The ruling coalition had been further strained in recent days by strong criticism from Sirisena and his allies that ministers from Wickremesinghe's party did not act properly in investigating an alleged assassination plot to kill the president and former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the new prime minister's younger brother.

The alleged plot briefly threatened to cause tension between&nbsp;Sri&nbsp;Lanka&nbsp;and India, after a report that Sirisena had accused India's intelligence services of involvement - a claim that New Delhi and Colombo have both denied.

Sirisena, along with some UPFA lawmakers including from his centre-left&nbsp;Sri&nbsp;Lanka&nbsp;Freedom Party (SLFP), formed a coalition government with Wickremesinghe's UNP soon after Sirisena unexpectedly defeated former ally Rajapaksa in a presidential election in January 2015.

The UNP and UPFA, an alliance of several political parties, consolidated their coalition after a parliamentary election in August 2015.

But both coalition partners suffered heavy defeats in local elections in February this year to a party backed by Rajapaksa. Sirisena loyalists backed a no-confidence motion in April against the prime minister, who survived after a majority of legislators voted to support his coalition government.

In early September, Rajapaksa had led thousands of opposition demonstrators who blocked a main road in Colombo in protest at economic hardship and the delaying of provincial polls.

Sri Lankan opposition leader Mahinda Rajapaksa was appointed prime minister on Friday after President Maithripala Sirisena dismissed the incumbent in a surprise move that threatens political turmoil in the Indian Ocean nation.

Sri Lankan opposition leader Mahinda Rajapaksa was appointed prime minister on Friday after President Maithripala Sirisena dismissed the incumbent in a surprise move that threatens political turmoil in the Indian Ocean nation. Rajapaksa, a former pro-China president, ushered in billions of dollars of investment from Beijing to help rebuild the country following the end of a 26-year civil war against Tamil separatists in 2009. But that investment has since put the tiny island in debt and forced it to hand over control of a strategic southern port to China, seen as part of Beijing's Belt and Road initiative, drawing criticism from India and the United States. President Sirisena administered the oath of office to Rajapaksa after sacking premier Ranil Wickremesinghe, who was away touring the south of the country, following months of infighting. But Wickremesinghe later told reporters he remained the prime minister. "I have the majority and I remain as the prime minister and I will function as the prime minister," he said. Under Sri Lanka's constitution, modelled on the French system of government, the president has executive powers while the prime minister heads the parliament. There was no immediate reaction from India which has long seen Sri Lanka, located just off its southern tip, as part of its area of influence and had been concerned about Rajapaksa's wooing of China. Both Rajapaksa and Wickremesinghe were in India and met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in recent weeks. Underlining the risk of chaos in the islands, where the government had been under pressure over a misfiring economy, Media and Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera said on Twitter that the appointment of Rajapaksa as prime minister was a violation of the constitution, which was amended in 2015 to curtail the powers of the president. "This is an anti-democratic coup," Samaraweera tweeted. State-run Rupavahini briefly went off-air when three ministers, including Samaraweera and Cabinet Spokesman Rajitha Senaratne, tried to address the nation during a live programme. Earlier Sirisensa's United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) had said it would quit the ruling coalition, capping months of rising tensions between the president's bloc and Wickremesinghe's centre-right United National Party (UNP). UPFA lawmaker Susil Premajayantha told reporters that a new cabinet would be sworn in soon. Sri Lanka's US $87 billion economy has been under pressure in recent years, with growth slowing to a 16-year low of 3.3 per cent last year due to tight monetary and fiscal conditions, droughts and floods. The ruling coalition had been further strained in recent days by strong criticism from Sirisena and his allies that ministers from Wickremesinghe's party did not act properly in investigating an alleged assassination plot to kill the president and former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the new prime minister's younger brother. The alleged plot briefly threatened to cause tension between Sri Lanka and India, after a report that Sirisena had accused India's intelligence services of involvement - a claim that New Delhi and Colombo have both denied. Sirisena, along with some UPFA lawmakers including from his centre-left Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), formed a coalition government with Wickremesinghe's UNP soon after Sirisena unexpectedly defeated former ally Rajapaksa in a presidential election in January 2015. The UNP and UPFA, an alliance of several political parties, consolidated their coalition after a parliamentary election in August 2015. But both coalition partners suffered heavy defeats in local elections in February this year to a party backed by Rajapaksa. Sirisena loyalists backed a no-confidence motion in April against the prime minister, who survived after a majority of legislators voted to support his coalition government. In early September, Rajapaksa had led thousands of opposition demonstrators who blocked a main road in Colombo in protest at economic hardship and the delaying of provincial polls.

Turmoil in Sri Lanka as ex-president Rajapaksa sworn in as PM

A day after Mahinda Rajapaksa was sworn as the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy said he will soon visit the island nation to raise the issue of the Indian fishermen and will also suggest a solution for resolving the issue of Sri Lankan Tamils.

The BJP leader took to Twitter to inform that he received a call from Sri Lanka's premier Mahinda Rajapaksha, whom he congratulated for being elevated as country's prime minister. The former Sri Lankan president had travelled to India last month on an invitation by the BJP Member of Parliament.

"I was happy to receive a call from Prime Minister Rajapaksha. I congratulated him and said I will come to Colombo soon and raise remaining issues of Sri Lankan Tamils and suggest solutions after consulting Sri Lankan Tamils. I also will raise the Indian fishermen issue with him," Swamy wrote on Twitter.

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
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I was happy to receive call from Prime Minister Rajapaksha. I congratulated him and said I will come to Colombo soon&amp;raise remaining issues of Sri Lankan Tamils and suggest solutions after consulting Sri Lankan Tamils. I also will raise the Indian fishermen issue with him.
— Subramanian Swamy (@Swamy39) <a href="https://twitter.com/Swamy39/status/1056014657968840704?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 27, 2018</a></blockquote>
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On Friday, Sri Lankan President Maithripla Sirisena sacked country's prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and replaced him with his (Sirisena) predecessor Rajapaksa after the collapse of the governing coalition between Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and United National Party (UNP), New York Times reported.

Underlining the risk of chaos in&nbsp;Sri&nbsp;Lanka, where the government had been under pressure over a misfiring economy, Media and Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera said on Twitter that the appointment of Rajapaksa as prime minister was a violation of the constitution, which was amended in 2015 to curtail the executive powers of the president.

DMK leader TRB Rajaa expressed gratification&nbsp;and wrote on Twitter: "CLEARLY this huge turnaround in #SriLanka has happened with the FULL "Aseervadham" of #Delhi."

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
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CLEARLY this huge turnaround in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SriLanka?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SriLanka</a> has happened with the FULL "Aseervadham" of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Delhi?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Delhi</a>
— T R B Rajaa (@TRBRajaa) <a href="https://twitter.com/TRBRajaa/status/1055851120684281857?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 26, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Eelam People's Democratic Party Parliamentarian Douglas Devananda also expressed his support to the new Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.&nbsp;

A day after Mahinda Rajapaksa was sworn as the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy said he will soon visit the island nation to raise the issue of the Indian fishermen and will also suggest a solution for resolving the issue of Sri Lankan Tamils.

A day after Mahinda Rajapaksa was sworn as the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy said he will soon visit the island nation to raise the issue of the Indian fishermen and will also suggest a solution for resolving the issue of Sri Lankan Tamils. The BJP leader took to Twitter to inform that he received a call from Sri Lanka's premier Mahinda Rajapaksha, whom he congratulated for being elevated as country's prime minister. The former Sri Lankan president had travelled to India last month on an invitation by the BJP Member of Parliament. "I was happy to receive a call from Prime Minister Rajapaksha. I congratulated him and said I will come to Colombo soon and raise remaining issues of Sri Lankan Tamils and suggest solutions after consulting Sri Lankan Tamils. I also will raise the Indian fishermen issue with him," Swamy wrote on Twitter. I was happy to receive call from Prime Minister Rajapaksha. I congratulated him and said I will come to Colombo soon&raise remaining issues of Sri Lankan Tamils and suggest solutions after consulting Sri Lankan Tamils. I also will raise the Indian fishermen issue with him. — Subramanian Swamy (@Swamy39) October 27, 2018 × On Friday, Sri Lankan President Maithripla Sirisena sacked country's prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and replaced him with his (Sirisena) predecessor Rajapaksa after the collapse of the governing coalition between Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and United National Party (UNP), New York Times reported. Underlining the risk of chaos in Sri Lanka, where the government had been under pressure over a misfiring economy, Media and Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera said on Twitter that the appointment of Rajapaksa as prime minister was a violation of the constitution, which was amended in 2015 to curtail the executive powers of the president. DMK leader TRB Rajaa expressed gratification and wrote on Twitter: "CLEARLY this huge turnaround in #SriLanka has happened with the FULL "Aseervadham" of #Delhi." CLEARLY this huge turnaround in #SriLanka has happened with the FULL "Aseervadham" of #Delhi — T R B Rajaa (@TRBRajaa) October 26, 2018 × Eelam People's Democratic Party Parliamentarian Douglas Devananda also expressed his support to the new Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Received a call from PM Rajapaksa, congratulated him; will visit Colombo soon: Subramanian Swamy

Former Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa was sworn in as prime minister on Friday (October 26) after President Maithripala Sirisena <a href="http://www.wionews.com/south-asia/after-sacking-pm-sri-lanka-president-sirisena-suspends-parliament-173796">sacked</a>&nbsp;Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in a shock move that threatens political turmoil in the country.&nbsp;

Wickremesinghe said the move was "unconstitutional" and vowed to prove his majority in Parliament. On Saturday, he demanded an <a href="http://www.wionews.com/south-asia/ousted-sri-lanka-pm-seeks-emergency-parliament-session-173772">emergency session</a> of parliament, so as to be able to prove his majority on the floor of the house.

Sirisena however responded by suspending parliament till November 16.&nbsp;

Here is a timeline of the events leading up to the constitutional crisis:&nbsp;

- Presidential elections were held in Sri Lanka on 8 January 2015, two years ahead of schedule.

- Then incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa was the United People's Freedom Alliance's candidate, seeking a third term in office.

- The United National Party (UNP)-led opposition coalition chose to field Maithripala Sirisena, the former Minister of Health in Rajapaksa's government and general secretary of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) – the main constituent party of the UPFA – as its common candidate.

- Sirisena was declared the winner after receiving 51.28% of all votes cast (6,217,162 votes) compared to Rajapaksa's 47.58% (5,768,090 votes).

- On 9th January, Rajapaksa concedes defeat ahead of the final result and the Sirsena was sworn in as Sri Lanka's sixth executive president, before Supreme Court judge K. Sripavan in Independence Square, Colombo.

- The 2015 Sri Lankan parliamentary election was held on 17 August 2015, ten months ahead of schedule, to elect 225 members to Sri Lanka's 15th Parliament.

- The incumbent United National Party (UNP) led United National Front for Good Governance (UNFGG) won 106 seats, an increase of 46 since the 2010 election, but failed to secure a majority in Parliament.

- The main opposition United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) won 95 seats, a decline of 49.

- The Tamil National Alliance (TNA), the largest party representing Sri Lankan Tamils, won 16 seats, an increase of two from 2010.

- The remaining eight seats were won by Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (6), Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (1) and Eelam People's Democratic Party (1).

- Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, leader of the UNFGG and UNP, was able to form a national government with the support of UPFA MPs loyal to President Maithripala Sirisena.

- The rift between the President and the Prime Minister started with treasury bond scandal in 2015.

- Faced with repayments on the massive loans inherited from the previous government, the Central Bank decided to raise Rs. 1 billion through an auction on February 27, 2015.

- The bank received just over Rs. 20 billion in bids and former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran instructed the Public Debt Department to accept Rs. 10 billion.

- Due to a communication gap, the Perpetual Treasuries Limited, a Primary Dealer owned by the son in law of the Central Bank Governor have had undue advantage to make profits. This was the starting of the rift between the President and the Prime Minister Wickeremesinghe.

- The last tipping point of the relation ship between the two leaders was the alleged conspiracy to assassinate President Srisena and former defence secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, which is now under investigation&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

Former Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa was sworn in as prime minister on Friday (October 26) after President Maithripala Sirisena sacked Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in a shock move that threatens political turmoil in the country.

Former Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa was sworn in as prime minister on Friday (October 26) after President Maithripala Sirisena sacked Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in a shock move that threatens political turmoil in the country. Wickremesinghe said the move was "unconstitutional" and vowed to prove his majority in Parliament. On Saturday, he demanded an emergency session of parliament, so as to be able to prove his majority on the floor of the house. Sirisena however responded by suspending parliament till November 16. Here is a timeline of the events leading up to the constitutional crisis: - Presidential elections were held in Sri Lanka on 8 January 2015, two years ahead of schedule. - Then incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa was the United People's Freedom Alliance's candidate, seeking a third term in office. - The United National Party (UNP)-led opposition coalition chose to field Maithripala Sirisena, the former Minister of Health in Rajapaksa's government and general secretary of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) – the main constituent party of the UPFA – as its common candidate. - Sirisena was declared the winner after receiving 51.28% of all votes cast (6,217,162 votes) compared to Rajapaksa's 47.58% (5,768,090 votes). - On 9th January, Rajapaksa concedes defeat ahead of the final result and the Sirsena was sworn in as Sri Lanka's sixth executive president, before Supreme Court judge K. Sripavan in Independence Square, Colombo. - The 2015 Sri Lankan parliamentary election was held on 17 August 2015, ten months ahead of schedule, to elect 225 members to Sri Lanka's 15th Parliament. - The incumbent United National Party (UNP) led United National Front for Good Governance (UNFGG) won 106 seats, an increase of 46 since the 2010 election, but failed to secure a majority in Parliament. - The main opposition United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) won 95 seats, a decline of 49. - The Tamil National Alliance (TNA), the largest party representing Sri Lankan Tamils, won 16 seats, an increase of two from 2010. - The remaining eight seats were won by Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (6), Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (1) and Eelam People's Democratic Party (1). - Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, leader of the UNFGG and UNP, was able to form a national government with the support of UPFA MPs loyal to President Maithripala Sirisena. - The rift between the President and the Prime Minister started with treasury bond scandal in 2015. - Faced with repayments on the massive loans inherited from the previous government, the Central Bank decided to raise Rs. 1 billion through an auction on February 27, 2015. - The bank received just over Rs. 20 billion in bids and former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran instructed the Public Debt Department to accept Rs. 10 billion. - Due to a communication gap, the Perpetual Treasuries Limited, a Primary Dealer owned by the son in law of the Central Bank Governor have had undue advantage to make profits. This was the starting of the rift between the President and the Prime Minister Wickeremesinghe. - The last tipping point of the relation ship between the two leaders was the alleged conspiracy to assassinate President Srisena and former defence secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, which is now under investigation

Sri Lanka's constitutional crisis: A timeline of events

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.&nbsp;

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.

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.

Sri Lanka's ex-president Mahinda Rajapaksa sworn in as new Prime Minister

The internal squabbling between President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has left the Sri Lankan public unhappy and dissatisfied, a minister in the ruling coalition government said on Saturday.

Addressing a gathering at Pannipitiya in a Colombo suburb, Minister of National Integration, Reconciliation and Official Languages Mano Ganesan also asked the two leaders to "sort out" their issues to ensure the free democratic environment created by this 'yahapalana' (good governance) government.

Sirisena, according to the media, had reportedly told former President Mahinda Rajapaksa that it was difficult to work with Wickremesinghe as prime minister.

In April, Wickremesinghe had successfully defeated a joint move by Sirisena and Rajapaksa to oust him. The premier was able to record a resounding victory in the no trust motion with the support of Tamil and Muslim minority parties.

"The people of the country are a bit disappointed and the reason for their unhappiness is the conflict of opinions and democratic disagreements between the President and the Prime Minister in the government," he said.

"I would like to tell my bosses that they need to sort out their internal issues. We formed the yahapalana (good governance) government and have created a free democratic environment in the country like never before. But the clashes between the president and the prime minister are not good," Ganesan said.&nbsp;

Wickremesinghe was Sirisena's main sponsor in the 2015 presidential election. Sirisena got elected with the support from the Wickremesinghe-led United National Party (UNP), Ganesan-led Tamil-minority party and others and the Muslims party.

Ganesan said that if the government is to continue longer the United National Party (UNP) must name a Prime Minister and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) must name its Presidential candidate.&nbsp;

The internal squabbling between President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has left the Sri Lankan public unhappy and dissatisfied, a minister in the ruling coalition government said on Saturday.

The internal squabbling between President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has left the Sri Lankan public unhappy and dissatisfied, a minister in the ruling coalition government said on Saturday. Addressing a gathering at Pannipitiya in a Colombo suburb, Minister of National Integration, Reconciliation and Official Languages Mano Ganesan also asked the two leaders to "sort out" their issues to ensure the free democratic environment created by this 'yahapalana' (good governance) government. Sirisena, according to the media, had reportedly told former President Mahinda Rajapaksa that it was difficult to work with Wickremesinghe as prime minister. In April, Wickremesinghe had successfully defeated a joint move by Sirisena and Rajapaksa to oust him. The premier was able to record a resounding victory in the no trust motion with the support of Tamil and Muslim minority parties. "The people of the country are a bit disappointed and the reason for their unhappiness is the conflict of opinions and democratic disagreements between the President and the Prime Minister in the government," he said. "I would like to tell my bosses that they need to sort out their internal issues. We formed the yahapalana (good governance) government and have created a free democratic environment in the country like never before. But the clashes between the president and the prime minister are not good," Ganesan said. Wickremesinghe was Sirisena's main sponsor in the 2015 presidential election. Sirisena got elected with the support from the Wickremesinghe-led United National Party (UNP), Ganesan-led Tamil-minority party and others and the Muslims party. Ganesan said that if the government is to continue longer the United National Party (UNP) must name a Prime Minister and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) must name its Presidential candidate.

Sri Lankans unhappy with infight in government: Minister

By

Khalid Shah

A delegation of Sri Lankan rugby veterans has <a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/watch-sri-lankan-ex-presidents-son-namal-rajapaksa-offers-to-coach-jk-womens-rugby-players-36026">landed in Jammu and Kashmir </a>to hold a seven-day training workshop for the girls rugby team of Jammu and Kashmir.&nbsp;

The delegation is sponsored by the Sri Lankan politician and rugby player Namal Rajapaksa, 32, the son of former president of Sri Lanka Mahinda Rajapaksa.&nbsp;

<a 560="" href="<iframe width=">Watch:&nbsp;Namal Rajapaksa on J&K women's rugby team</a>

Namal Rajapaksa after watching the story on WION had got in touch with the Jammu and Kashmir Sports Council to organise the workshop. Namal Rajapaksa will be travelling to Srinagar city on April 21st to join the delegation to train the rugby team of Jammu and Kashmir.&nbsp;

Namal Rajapaksa, an alumnus of Saint Thomas College, played for the school rugby team in different categories.&nbsp;

He has also played for the national under-16 and under-19 rugby team of Sri Lanka.&nbsp;

In the year 2013, he became the captain of Sri Lankan Union Rugby team. Apart from playing for the Cardiff University team, he was also a part of City University London team from 2006 to 2009.&nbsp;

As per a close aide of Rajapaksa, he is a rugby enthusiast, seeing the passion of young Kashmiri girls on screen he decided to travel to Srinagar and sponsored the workshop.&nbsp;

"The ground is full of excited people today. All players are excited. You can see it is visible on the ground. The coaches who have come from Sri Lanka have a whole new and different level of skills. They have coached the teams at the international level. They have so many achievements and their achievements are inspiring us and we have that thrill to play and make our game better," said&nbsp;Muskan Latif, a young player.&nbsp;

Another player Shabeena Khan said that the training is totally different with the Sri Lankan coaches. "Their way of training is different, their skills are much better. That might be&nbsp;lacking in our game, we will try out best to train with them," she said.&nbsp;

While Rajapaksa joined active politics in Sri Lanka after quitting rugby in 2014, his&nbsp;love for&nbsp;the game hasn't waned.&nbsp;Last month speaking to WION, Namal Rajapaksa had said a country like India is widely popular for cricket and football.&nbsp;

"When you all of a sudden you see kids get together to play rugby and that too girls it gives me great joy,"&nbsp;Rajapaksa said.&nbsp;

The delegation from Sri Lanka is impressed with talented players of the Valley and now helping them to finetune their game.&nbsp;

"I can feel they love the game, both girls and boys love the game. They need to improve their skills and we are here to help them with that. They invited us to help them to make the game better through our MP Namal Rajapaksa, so we thought to come and help this rugby team," said Ronny Ibrahim, the Sri Lankan coach.&nbsp;

While conflict and turmoil has been the mainstay of Kashmir for many decades now, these young girls are turning the tide through the sheer love of rugby.

While Namal Rajapaksa joined active politics in Sri Lanka after quitting rugby in 2014, his love for the game hasn't waned

By Khalid Shah A delegation of Sri Lankan rugby veterans has landed in Jammu and Kashmir to hold a seven-day training workshop for the girls rugby team of Jammu and Kashmir. The delegation is sponsored by the Sri Lankan politician and rugby player Namal Rajapaksa, 32, the son of former president of Sri Lanka Mahinda Rajapaksa. Watch: Namal Rajapaksa on J&K women's rugby team Namal Rajapaksa after watching the story on WION had got in touch with the Jammu and Kashmir Sports Council to organise the workshop. Namal Rajapaksa will be travelling to Srinagar city on April 21st to join the delegation to train the rugby team of Jammu and Kashmir. Namal Rajapaksa, an alumnus of Saint Thomas College, played for the school rugby team in different categories. He has also played for the national under-16 and under-19 rugby team of Sri Lanka. In the year 2013, he became the captain of Sri Lankan Union Rugby team. Apart from playing for the Cardiff University team, he was also a part of City University London team from 2006 to 2009. As per a close aide of Rajapaksa, he is a rugby enthusiast, seeing the passion of young Kashmiri girls on screen he decided to travel to Srinagar and sponsored the workshop. "The ground is full of excited people today. All players are excited. You can see it is visible on the ground. The coaches who have come from Sri Lanka have a whole new and different level of skills. They have coached the teams at the international level. They have so many achievements and their achievements are inspiring us and we have that thrill to play and make our game better," said Muskan Latif, a young player. Another player Shabeena Khan said that the training is totally different with the Sri Lankan coaches. "Their way of training is different, their skills are much better. That might be lacking in our game, we will try out best to train with them," she said. While Rajapaksa joined active politics in Sri Lanka after quitting rugby in 2014, his love for the game hasn't waned. Last month speaking to WION, Namal Rajapaksa had said a country like India is widely popular for cricket and football. "When you all of a sudden you see kids get together to play rugby and that too girls it gives me great joy," Rajapaksa said. The delegation from Sri Lanka is impressed with talented players of the Valley and now helping them to finetune their game. "I can feel they love the game, both girls and boys love the game. They need to improve their skills and we are here to help them with that. They invited us to help them to make the game better through our MP Namal Rajapaksa, so we thought to come and help this rugby team," said Ronny Ibrahim, the Sri Lankan coach. While conflict and turmoil has been the mainstay of Kashmir for many decades now, these young girls are turning the tide through the sheer love of rugby.

Lankan ex-president's son Namal Rajapaksa sponsors rugby workshop in J&K

Namal Rajapaksa is 32 years old and a Member of Parliament in the Sri Lankan opposition. He is also the son of Sri Lanka&rsquo;s former President Mahinda Rajapaksa who, along with his newly-formed Podujana Peramuna party, has emerged victorious in recent provincial polls and is slated for a comeback at the centre in Colombo. Relations between the Rajapaksas &ndash; a family of career politicians &ndash; and India were frosty towards the end of Sri Lanka&rsquo;s civil war in 2009. The then President Mahinda Rajapaksa had sought and received help from China and Pakistan to defeat the terrorist group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).&nbsp;&nbsp;Due to pressure from components from Tamil Nadu,&nbsp;&nbsp;the ruling UPA coalition in India had restricted itself to providing soft equipment and logistical help to the Sri Lankan Armed Forces, but stayed away from forging a closer alliance with Sri Lanka&rsquo;s most popular but also most controversial head of state to date.

Much water has flown under the bridge since then. Rajapaksa lost presidential elections in 2015 (he had hinted that India engineered his defeat but told WION in an&nbsp;&nbsp;exclusive interview last year that he wanted to let &lsquo;&rsquo;bygones be bygones&rdquo; and forge a new relationship with New Delhi).&nbsp;&nbsp;Currently, President Maithripala Sirisena&rsquo;s coalition is in power in Colombo. But under huge external debt, the current dispensation has forged even closer relations to China while ties to India have been pushed to the backburner.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Now comes the younger &ndash; and equally controversial &ndash; Namal Rajapaksa with an interesting offer to the Government of India via WION.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Last week, WION&rsquo;S J&amp;K correspondent Khalil Shah had reported on Kashmiri woman rugby players. Days later, Rajapaksa Jr. contacted WION for an introduction to the team. The seasoned rugby player and coach Rajapaksa, offered coaching to the Kashmiri girls and told WION in an interview why he was doing so.

THE WION story on the Kashmiri rugby girls and the WION interview with the son of the former Lankan President, Mahinda Rajapaksa have gone viral, made headlines in the Indian and Sri Lankan media and &ndash; WION has again made an impact across South Asia.

WION&rsquo;S Senior Foreign Editor Padma Rao Sundarji reproduces the entire content of her conversation with Namal Rajapaksa exclusively on WION WEB and why this time, the offer from the Rajapaksas is about passion, not politics.&nbsp;&nbsp;Of course, the Government of India will likely not comment on the offer of rugby coaching. But this is no ordinary person and Jammu and Kashmir is not any Indian state.&nbsp;&nbsp;And for all his alleged shenanigans, Namal Rajapaksa and both his brothers are seasoned international league rugby players.&nbsp;&nbsp;Will the offer be a cautious beginning to a thaw in relations between New Delhi and Colombo?&nbsp;Read on.

WION:&nbsp;Namal Rajapaksa, you tweeted your enthusiasm for WION&rsquo;s recent report on Kashmiri woman rugby players and requested WION for a contact to the players. What&rsquo;s on your mind?

RAJAPAKSA: I came across this video yesterday. It was fascinating to see that the sport of rugby is being played across Asia and especially in a country like India, where cricket is widely popular. All of a sudden you see kids get together to play rugby and that too, village girls. As you know, rugby is an Olympic sport today.

For any participating country,&nbsp;&nbsp;promoting such sports that can win medals matters a lot. But to see Kashmiri girls set all else aside, all difference, and come together and get involved in such a physical game is in the spirit of sports.

WION:&nbsp;But WION has just begun airing in your country so we are pleasantly surprised to see such an immediate and enthusiastic response to one of our stories and that too on rugby. We know you have been a professional league player but &ndash; what&rsquo;s the connection between rugby and Sri Lanka ?

RAJAPAKSA&nbsp;: Yes, WION was not visible in Sri Lanka for these previous years and yet, the channel has been close to Sri Lanka and very active in coverage. WION has done a couple of interviews with my father too.

And I am sure that WION will be getting more involved in Sri Lankan news and taking it globally will give both Sri Lanka and the channel an opportunity to express ideas, views and send messages globally.&nbsp;&nbsp;

As for rugby in our country &ndash; well, it came with the tea plantations more than 100 years ago.

In our family, everyone played rugby &ndash; even my mother and father. But unfortunately, Sri Lanka hasn&rsquo;t &yacute;et made a mark in world rugby yet. It&rsquo;s a very physical sport which people interpret wrongly sometimes. It is not a violent sport. It&rsquo;s all about discipline. And it&rsquo;s taught all of us many lessons in life.

WION: All that is fine. But you are now a politician. And you are offering training to a rugby club not in any state of India but &ndash; Jammu&amp;Kashmir. That has special significance. Some may say, even political undertones. Your father the former President is on the comeback trail. You, yourself, may find yourself in the central government in Colombo in the future. Relations between India and Sri Lanka during your father&rsquo;s presidency were not very warm. So it is natural to ask: why are you making this offer ? Is it politics or &ndash; passion?

RAJAPAKSA: Purely passion. We do politics, yes. But at the end of the day, we all have our personal lives. And sports is a part of that personal life. My whole family has been involved in sports and in my personal capacity, I have also represented Sri Lanka. Look at a state like J&amp;K. It makes a lot of news.

But it is not always positively taken by the people. So here is something &ndash; this woman&rsquo;s rugby team &ndash; which we can all look forward to. As you know, sports is one way of reconciliation, one way of getting communities together, people together, countries connected.

Many Indian coaches come to Sri Lanka to train us. Similarly, we could contribute something to these girls in Kashmir by putting a group of rugby experts together and coaching them. We could get things moving.

WION:&nbsp;Is there a message in your enthusiasm for the government of India too?

RAJAPAKSA:&nbsp;&nbsp;India and Sri Lanka have always had very strong bilateral, cultural and social bonds. Of course, we&rsquo;ve had our ups and downs. But something like this can only strengthen people-to-people contacts. We would love the Indian people to understand what we Sri Lankans can offer them.

Then, India has a lot of human capacity and financial backing. India&rsquo;s getting involved in women&rsquo;s rugby will definitely help the game of rugby as well. And in that way, it will help the entire region to develop rugby as a sport. The government of India could get involved by providing infrastructure and bringing more global expertise into India. Maybe the World Rugby Organization could help. India could set up a professional body.

The Commonwealth Games are around the corner and women&rsquo;s rugby is also included. Indian teams take part in all international sports fixtures. Rugby is an Olympic sport too. And finally, it would be great to help in reconciliation and rebuilding the hearts and minds of the younger generation in Jammu and Kashmir.

Last week, WION’S J&K correspondent Khalil Shah had reported on Kashmiri woman rugby players. Days later, Rajapaksa Jr. contacted WION for an introduction to the team.

Namal Rajapaksa is 32 years old and a Member of Parliament in the Sri Lankan opposition. He is also the son of Sri Lanka’s former President Mahinda Rajapaksa who, along with his newly-formed Podujana Peramuna party, has emerged victorious in recent provincial polls and is slated for a comeback at the centre in Colombo. Relations between the Rajapaksas – a family of career politicians – and India were frosty towards the end of Sri Lanka’s civil war in 2009. The then President Mahinda Rajapaksa had sought and received help from China and Pakistan to defeat the terrorist group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Due to pressure from components from Tamil Nadu, the ruling UPA coalition in India had restricted itself to providing soft equipment and logistical help to the Sri Lankan Armed Forces, but stayed away from forging a closer alliance with Sri Lanka’s most popular but also most controversial head of state to date. Much water has flown under the bridge since then. Rajapaksa lost presidential elections in 2015 (he had hinted that India engineered his defeat but told WION in an exclusive interview last year that he wanted to let ‘’bygones be bygones” and forge a new relationship with New Delhi). Currently, President Maithripala Sirisena’s coalition is in power in Colombo. But under huge external debt, the current dispensation has forged even closer relations to China while ties to India have been pushed to the backburner. Now comes the younger – and equally controversial – Namal Rajapaksa with an interesting offer to the Government of India via WION. Last week, WION’S J&K correspondent Khalil Shah had reported on Kashmiri woman rugby players. Days later, Rajapaksa Jr. contacted WION for an introduction to the team. The seasoned rugby player and coach Rajapaksa, offered coaching to the Kashmiri girls and told WION in an interview why he was doing so. THE WION story on the Kashmiri rugby girls and the WION interview with the son of the former Lankan President, Mahinda Rajapaksa have gone viral, made headlines in the Indian and Sri Lankan media and – WION has again made an impact across South Asia. WION’S Senior Foreign Editor Padma Rao Sundarji reproduces the entire content of her conversation with Namal Rajapaksa exclusively on WION WEB and why this time, the offer from the Rajapaksas is about passion, not politics. Of course, the Government of India will likely not comment on the offer of rugby coaching. But this is no ordinary person and Jammu and Kashmir is not any Indian state. And for all his alleged shenanigans, Namal Rajapaksa and both his brothers are seasoned international league rugby players. Will the offer be a cautious beginning to a thaw in relations between New Delhi and Colombo? Read on. WION: Namal Rajapaksa, you tweeted your enthusiasm for WION’s recent report on Kashmiri woman rugby players and requested WION for a contact to the players. What’s on your mind? RAJAPAKSA: I came across this video yesterday. It was fascinating to see that the sport of rugby is being played across Asia and especially in a country like India, where cricket is widely popular. All of a sudden you see kids get together to play rugby and that too, village girls. As you know, rugby is an Olympic sport today. For any participating country, promoting such sports that can win medals matters a lot. But to see Kashmiri girls set all else aside, all difference, and come together and get involved in such a physical game is in the spirit of sports. WION: But WION has just begun airing in your country so we are pleasantly surprised to see such an immediate and enthusiastic response to one of our stories and that too on rugby. We know you have been a professional league player but – what’s the connection between rugby and Sri Lanka ? RAJAPAKSA : Yes, WION was not visible in Sri Lanka for these previous years and yet, the channel has been close to Sri Lanka and very active in coverage. WION has done a couple of interviews with my father too. And I am sure that WION will be getting more involved in Sri Lankan news and taking it globally will give both Sri Lanka and the channel an opportunity to express ideas, views and send messages globally. As for rugby in our country – well, it came with the tea plantations more than 100 years ago. In our family, everyone played rugby – even my mother and father. But unfortunately, Sri Lanka hasn’t ýet made a mark in world rugby yet. It’s a very physical sport which people interpret wrongly sometimes. It is not a violent sport. It’s all about discipline. And it’s taught all of us many lessons in life. WION: All that is fine. But you are now a politician. And you are offering training to a rugby club not in any state of India but – Jammu&Kashmir. That has special significance. Some may say, even political undertones. Your father the former President is on the comeback trail. You, yourself, may find yourself in the central government in Colombo in the future. Relations between India and Sri Lanka during your father’s presidency were not very warm. So it is natural to ask: why are you making this offer ? Is it politics or – passion? RAJAPAKSA: Purely passion. We do politics, yes. But at the end of the day, we all have our personal lives. And sports is a part of that personal life. My whole family has been involved in sports and in my personal capacity, I have also represented Sri Lanka. Look at a state like J&K. It makes a lot of news. But it is not always positively taken by the people. So here is something – this woman’s rugby team – which we can all look forward to. As you know, sports is one way of reconciliation, one way of getting communities together, people together, countries connected. Many Indian coaches come to Sri Lanka to train us. Similarly, we could contribute something to these girls in Kashmir by putting a group of rugby experts together and coaching them. We could get things moving. WION: Is there a message in your enthusiasm for the government of India too? RAJAPAKSA: India and Sri Lanka have always had very strong bilateral, cultural and social bonds. Of course, we’ve had our ups and downs. But something like this can only strengthen people-to-people contacts. We would love the Indian people to understand what we Sri Lankans can offer them. Then, India has a lot of human capacity and financial backing. India’s getting involved in women’s rugby will definitely help the game of rugby as well. And in that way, it will help the entire region to develop rugby as a sport. The government of India could get involved by providing infrastructure and bringing more global expertise into India. Maybe the World Rugby Organization could help. India could set up a professional body. The Commonwealth Games are around the corner and women’s rugby is also included. Indian teams take part in all international sports fixtures. Rugby is an Olympic sport too. And finally, it would be great to help in reconciliation and rebuilding the hearts and minds of the younger generation in Jammu and Kashmir.

Watch: Sri Lankan ex-president's son Namal Rajapaksa offers to coach J&K women's rugby players

Former President of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksa is on a comeback trail. His newly formed Sri Lanka People&rsquo;s Party (SLPP) swept local polls over the weekend, decimating both the main parties of Colombo&rsquo;s ruling coalition: the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) of President Maithripala Sirisena and the United National Party (UNP) of PM Ranil Wickremesinghe. &nbsp;WION spoke to Namal Rajapaksa, Member of Parliament and &ndash; Mr Rajapaksa&rsquo;s son and political heir apparent.

Q: Namal Rajapaksa, your father the former President is as popular in Sri Lanka as he is controversial overseas. Your Sri Lanka People&rsquo;s Party (SLPP) is relatively new. Did either of you foresee such a sweeping win of the local polls over this previous weekend?

A: Thank you. Yes, I think we were expecting a big victory. If you look at the way the government has been reacting to people&rsquo;s demands over the past three years, it has always been from the government&rsquo;s point of view, rather than actually delivering what people need. Of the total of 96 MPs of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) of the current President, 51 of us who split are seated in the opposition. Even though we are in the majority there, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) which has only 16 members, leads the opposition, &nbsp;the Janatha Vimukthi Perumuna (JVP) has only four seats but yet provides the chief organizer whip of the opposition. So the current government is simply not responsive to people&rsquo;s demands and &ndash; this election result is a clear indication.

Q: These local polls were essentially elections to your &quot;pradeshiya sabhas&quot;, comparable to &lsquo;panchayat&rsquo; elections in India. And yet, you are already calling for snap parliamentary polls&hellip;

A: The people&rsquo;s verdict is very clear. The majority is not with the government. The government itself is in a crisis. Even though it calls itself a &quot;unity government&quot;, you can&rsquo;t see any unity within the government. You can&rsquo;t run a country like this. The President represents a different party than that of the PM. They are not on the same page and can&rsquo;t agree on anything the country needs. So, what&rsquo;s the point? This government cannot last.

Q: Your SLPP won especially handsomely in Hambantota, the home constituency of all the Rajapaksas. Did it have anything to do with the equity-for-debt deal with China over the Hambantota port and the 99-year-lease on 15000 acres of farmland in the area for the Chinese to build a free trade zone?

A: Yes, of course, that port is a national asset. &nbsp;But there is more. One of the main reasons for our victory there are the government&rsquo;s policies on agriculture and fisheries. &nbsp;Hambantota has a very strong agriculture base and it is badly affected by the government cutting down the fertilizer subsidy. And also by the fixed prices the government has introduced for paddy. The government is on the verge of privatising the fisheries industry of this country. But I must reiterate, it is not only in Hambantota that we won. We won all local councils even in Pollunaruwa, the district that the current President, Maithripala Sirisena, represents. &nbsp;That clearly shows how frustrated people are with his government.

Q: But what about the Tamils of Northern and Eastern Sri Lanka? That&rsquo;s an extremely sensitive question. A bloody civil war was fought for almost thirty years. It ended during your father&rsquo;s presidency. The outstanding question of maximum autonomy for the Tamils still remains unsolved. The Tamil National Alliance (TNA)&#39;s local party ITAK, won the recent local polls. &nbsp;If snap polls are held and your SLPP does come to power, what will you do for the North?

A: The government has to go for a snap poll. That&rsquo;s the only option now: a proper general election and the opportunity for the people to elect a strong government. As far as the North is concerned, please note : neither the SLFP, nor the UNP, nor the JVP nor even we, the UNPP, have so far been able to establish ourselves in the north as national political parties. So the only option in the north is to vote for TNA. Even though this government talks about reconciliation and unity, this govt hasn&rsquo;t taken the north seriously. Instead, it&rsquo;s still depending on the regional party. And is still depending on the regional ITAK. Look at the recent statements by the TNA leader, the Honourable Mr Sambandan and I say this with all due respect for his seniority and position. &nbsp;He categorically says that Tamil youth should not demand jobs and employment but should wait for a devolution package. Tamil people have been waiting for these opportunities for the last thirty years and now he wants them to wait for another thirty years!

Q: But will they have to wait much longer if your party, the SLPP wins a snap poll if one is held? What are your own plans for greater autonomy for the North and the East? &nbsp;

A: We need to come up with a solid development programme, over which both southern and northern Sri Lanka will agree. You can&rsquo;t come up with a devolution package only for the north. &nbsp;There are more Tamils living in Colombo, there are more Tamils living in upcountry Sri Lanka (up-country equal to tea estates). You know, the issue has never been between Tamils and Sinhalese. Look at the businesses in Colombo and elsewhere in Sri Lanka. Most are controlled by Tamils. I am sure that they don&rsquo;t all want to sell their businesses and live in Jaffna. That&rsquo;s not going to happen. So it has to be something that is accepted by Tamils, Muslims and Sinhalese living in both the North and South. It is not about what Hon Sambandan wants, not about what Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) chief Prabhakaran wanted: that&rsquo;s history. And yet, that&rsquo;s what all these regional parties want. We have to have a holistic approach towards a solution and - the entire country has to accept it.

Q: Now give us a scoop before you go. Will your father Mahinda Rajapaksa be the next Prime Minister and your uncle, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa (former defence secretary) be the President after the next presidential election?

A: That&rsquo;s &nbsp;a very difficult question. Of course, the candidate for PM will be my father, the former President, Mahinda Rajapaksa. And it is clearly evident from the majority votes that we have got at this election - &nbsp;it&rsquo;s clear that people voted for him. The campaign was based on him, people voted for Mahinda Rajapaksa. &nbsp;But the presidential election is in 2020 and we haven&rsquo;t decided yet. My uncle Gotabhaya has just arrived in Sri Lanka. When the media asked him about getting into parliament or doing politics, &nbsp;he said he hasn&rsquo;t decided yet. &nbsp;So we&rsquo;ll think about the next presidency when the time comes. For now, our main objective is to go for a snap parliamentary election and form a very strong government. One which wants to and will take this country forward.

 
&nbsp;

Former President of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksa is on a comeback trail. His newly formed Sri Lanka People’s Party (SLPP) swept local polls over the weekend. WION spoke to Namal Rajapaksa, Member of Parliament and – Mr Rajapaksa’s son and political heir apparent

Former President of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksa is on a comeback trail. His newly formed Sri Lanka People’s Party (SLPP) swept local polls over the weekend, decimating both the main parties of Colombo’s ruling coalition: the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) of President Maithripala Sirisena and the United National Party (UNP) of PM Ranil Wickremesinghe. WION spoke to Namal Rajapaksa, Member of Parliament and – Mr Rajapaksa’s son and political heir apparent. Q: Namal Rajapaksa, your father the former President is as popular in Sri Lanka as he is controversial overseas. Your Sri Lanka People’s Party (SLPP) is relatively new. Did either of you foresee such a sweeping win of the local polls over this previous weekend? A: Thank you. Yes, I think we were expecting a big victory. If you look at the way the government has been reacting to people’s demands over the past three years, it has always been from the government’s point of view, rather than actually delivering what people need. Of the total of 96 MPs of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) of the current President, 51 of us who split are seated in the opposition. Even though we are in the majority there, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) which has only 16 members, leads the opposition, the Janatha Vimukthi Perumuna (JVP) has only four seats but yet provides the chief organizer whip of the opposition. So the current government is simply not responsive to people’s demands and – this election result is a clear indication. Q: These local polls were essentially elections to your "pradeshiya sabhas", comparable to ‘panchayat’ elections in India. And yet, you are already calling for snap parliamentary polls… A: The people’s verdict is very clear. The majority is not with the government. The government itself is in a crisis. Even though it calls itself a "unity government", you can’t see any unity within the government. You can’t run a country like this. The President represents a different party than that of the PM. They are not on the same page and can’t agree on anything the country needs. So, what’s the point? This government cannot last. Q: Your SLPP won especially handsomely in Hambantota, the home constituency of all the Rajapaksas. Did it have anything to do with the equity-for-debt deal with China over the Hambantota port and the 99-year-lease on 15000 acres of farmland in the area for the Chinese to build a free trade zone? A: Yes, of course, that port is a national asset. But there is more. One of the main reasons for our victory there are the government’s policies on agriculture and fisheries. Hambantota has a very strong agriculture base and it is badly affected by the government cutting down the fertilizer subsidy. And also by the fixed prices the government has introduced for paddy. The government is on the verge of privatising the fisheries industry of this country. But I must reiterate, it is not only in Hambantota that we won. We won all local councils even in Pollunaruwa, the district that the current President, Maithripala Sirisena, represents. That clearly shows how frustrated people are with his government. Q: But what about the Tamils of Northern and Eastern Sri Lanka? That’s an extremely sensitive question. A bloody civil war was fought for almost thirty years. It ended during your father’s presidency. The outstanding question of maximum autonomy for the Tamils still remains unsolved. The Tamil National Alliance (TNA)'s local party ITAK, won the recent local polls. If snap polls are held and your SLPP does come to power, what will you do for the North? A: The government has to go for a snap poll. That’s the only option now: a proper general election and the opportunity for the people to elect a strong government. As far as the North is concerned, please note : neither the SLFP, nor the UNP, nor the JVP nor even we, the UNPP, have so far been able to establish ourselves in the north as national political parties. So the only option in the north is to vote for TNA. Even though this government talks about reconciliation and unity, this govt hasn’t taken the north seriously. Instead, it’s still depending on the regional party. And is still depending on the regional ITAK. Look at the recent statements by the TNA leader, the Honourable Mr Sambandan and I say this with all due respect for his seniority and position. He categorically says that Tamil youth should not demand jobs and employment but should wait for a devolution package. Tamil people have been waiting for these opportunities for the last thirty years and now he wants them to wait for another thirty years! Q: But will they have to wait much longer if your party, the SLPP wins a snap poll if one is held? What are your own plans for greater autonomy for the North and the East? A: We need to come up with a solid development programme, over which both southern and northern Sri Lanka will agree. You can’t come up with a devolution package only for the north. There are more Tamils living in Colombo, there are more Tamils living in upcountry Sri Lanka (up-country equal to tea estates). You know, the issue has never been between Tamils and Sinhalese. Look at the businesses in Colombo and elsewhere in Sri Lanka. Most are controlled by Tamils. I am sure that they don’t all want to sell their businesses and live in Jaffna. That’s not going to happen. So it has to be something that is accepted by Tamils, Muslims and Sinhalese living in both the North and South. It is not about what Hon Sambandan wants, not about what Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) chief Prabhakaran wanted: that’s history. And yet, that’s what all these regional parties want. We have to have a holistic approach towards a solution and - the entire country has to accept it. Q: Now give us a scoop before you go. Will your father Mahinda Rajapaksa be the next Prime Minister and your uncle, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa (former defence secretary) be the President after the next presidential election? A: That’s a very difficult question. Of course, the candidate for PM will be my father, the former President, Mahinda Rajapaksa. And it is clearly evident from the majority votes that we have got at this election - it’s clear that people voted for him. The campaign was based on him, people voted for Mahinda Rajapaksa. But the presidential election is in 2020 and we haven’t decided yet. My uncle Gotabhaya has just arrived in Sri Lanka. When the media asked him about getting into parliament or doing politics, he said he hasn’t decided yet. So we’ll think about the next presidency when the time comes. For now, our main objective is to go for a snap parliamentary election and form a very strong government. One which wants to and will take this country forward.

We want snap polls in Sri Lanka: Mahinda Rajapaksa's son to WION

A political party backed by Sri Lanka`s former president Mahinda Rajapaksa looks set for a landslide victory in local polls, early results showed on Sunday, potentially undermining the country`s unity government and its reform agenda.&nbsp;

The unexpectedly strong showing could lead to defections away from the centre-left party led by President Maithripala Sirisena, a partner in the country`s coalition government, analysts said, creating instability in the legislature.

The local polls were the first elections since the unity government of Sirisena`s centre-left Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe`s centre-right United National Party (UNP) took office in August 2015.

Rajapaksa`s Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), a party formed by breakaway members of Sirisena` party, has secured 97 local bodies out of results for 139 councils so far released as at 0650 GMT. The UNP took control of 18 councils and SLFP six.

Results for another 201 local bodies are yet to be released. The long-delayed election comes after the councils were dissolved over two years ago after their tenure ended.

&quot;Rajapaksa`s electoral performance comes as a surprise and will be problematic for President Sirisena,&quot; Shailesh Kumar, director with political risk consultants Eurasia Group said.

Dinesh Gunawardena, an opposition legislator and member of SLPP, told reporters in Colombo that the Sirisena &quot;government has lost the people`s mandate and should resign now&quot;.

Rajapaksa, a legislator in the opposition benches, commands the backing of 54 legislators who have defected from Sirisena`s party. The president`s party has 41 legislators and the prime minister`s party commands 106 MPs in the 225-member parliament.

&quot;The parliament is likely to see defections and Rajapaksa will call the shots,&quot; Kusal Perera, a local political columnist said.

Rajapaksa campaigned against the government`s failure to curb the cost of living and to take action against corruption, as well as higher taxes, the privatisation of state assets, and less welfare for the poor and retired soldiers.&nbsp;

The government has promised a new constitution that devolves power, the facilitation of an international probe into alleged war crimes during the final phase of a 26-year civil war, IMF-backed fiscal discipline and post-war reconciliation.&nbsp;

However, it has yet to deliver on these reforms or on promised anti-corruption measures.

The unexpected defeat comes after a bitter fight between the parties led by the president and prime minister, which blamed each other for the failures in the run-up to the local polls.&nbsp;

The president and his supporters have opposed or neutralised many of the UNP reforms. Under the constitution, Sirisena cannot dissolve the parliament until early 2020, while the parliament needs a two-third majority to impeach the president.

Sirisena has said he wants to take charge of the economy, which is currently handled by the UNP, and has blamed the prime minister`s party for failing to tackle corruption.&nbsp;

Danushka Samarasinghe, research head at Softlogic Stockbrokers said the results could bring more uncertainty to the market and ongoing economic reforms could be overshadowed by parliamentary politics.

A political party backed by Sri Lanka`s former president Mahinda Rajapaksa looks set for a landslide victory in local polls, early results showed on Sunday, potentially undermining the country`s unity government and its reform agenda.

A political party backed by Sri Lanka`s former president Mahinda Rajapaksa looks set for a landslide victory in local polls, early results showed on Sunday, potentially undermining the country`s unity government and its reform agenda. The unexpectedly strong showing could lead to defections away from the centre-left party led by President Maithripala Sirisena, a partner in the country`s coalition government, analysts said, creating instability in the legislature. The local polls were the first elections since the unity government of Sirisena`s centre-left Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe`s centre-right United National Party (UNP) took office in August 2015. Rajapaksa`s Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), a party formed by breakaway members of Sirisena` party, has secured 97 local bodies out of results for 139 councils so far released as at 0650 GMT. The UNP took control of 18 councils and SLFP six. Results for another 201 local bodies are yet to be released. The long-delayed election comes after the councils were dissolved over two years ago after their tenure ended. "Rajapaksa`s electoral performance comes as a surprise and will be problematic for President Sirisena," Shailesh Kumar, director with political risk consultants Eurasia Group said. Dinesh Gunawardena, an opposition legislator and member of SLPP, told reporters in Colombo that the Sirisena "government has lost the people`s mandate and should resign now". Rajapaksa, a legislator in the opposition benches, commands the backing of 54 legislators who have defected from Sirisena`s party. The president`s party has 41 legislators and the prime minister`s party commands 106 MPs in the 225-member parliament. "The parliament is likely to see defections and Rajapaksa will call the shots," Kusal Perera, a local political columnist said. Rajapaksa campaigned against the government`s failure to curb the cost of living and to take action against corruption, as well as higher taxes, the privatisation of state assets, and less welfare for the poor and retired soldiers. The government has promised a new constitution that devolves power, the facilitation of an international probe into alleged war crimes during the final phase of a 26-year civil war, IMF-backed fiscal discipline and post-war reconciliation. However, it has yet to deliver on these reforms or on promised anti-corruption measures. The unexpected defeat comes after a bitter fight between the parties led by the president and prime minister, which blamed each other for the failures in the run-up to the local polls. The president and his supporters have opposed or neutralised many of the UNP reforms. Under the constitution, Sirisena cannot dissolve the parliament until early 2020, while the parliament needs a two-third majority to impeach the president. Sirisena has said he wants to take charge of the economy, which is currently handled by the UNP, and has blamed the prime minister`s party for failing to tackle corruption. Danushka Samarasinghe, research head at Softlogic Stockbrokers said the results could bring more uncertainty to the market and ongoing economic reforms could be overshadowed by parliamentary politics.

Sri Lanka ex-leader-backed party set for landslide victory in local polls

Sri Lanka&#39;s ruling alliance was humiliated Sunday in local elections seen as a test of its leadership and the party of ex-president Mahinda Rajapakse was on track for a shock landslide victory, results showed Sunday.

The mid-term polls further strained the uneasy coalition between President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as they faced a resurgent challenger in Rajapakse&#39;s new party.

Official results showed Rajapakse&#39;s Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna -- SLPP or People&#39;s Front -- had won 143 of the 182 councils counted so far, out of a total of 340.

Wickremesinghe&#39;s United National Party was a distant second with 17 councils while Sirisena&#39;s Freedom Alliance languished with just seven.

Unofficial results showed Rajapakse&#39;s party comfortably leading in all regions bar the battled-scarred north and east where, as president, he brutally crushed a separatist movement to end the island&#39;s ethnic war in 2009.

The vote affects only the lowest rungs of Sri Lankan politics but the result is being seen as a stinging rebuke to the ruling coalition, which has struggled to pass promised post-war reforms.

The alliance between Sirisena and Wickremesinghe -- who teamed up to defeat Rajapakse in a presidential election in 2015 -- has frayed as both men have levelled allegations of corruption and backstabbing against the other.

Wickremesinghe&#39;s UNP had been expected to lead Saturday&#39;s poll while the parties led by Sirisena and Rajapakse were expected to fight for second.

Rajapakse&#39;s surprise dominance was proof the people no longer had faith in the tattered ruling alliance, said SLPP spokesman Gamini Lakshman Peiris.

&quot;This was a referendum on the government. It has no legal or democratic right to remain in power,&quot; Peiris told reporters.

Neither the president or prime minister were commenting on the result. Official sources said both men -- who campaigned separately for their respective parties -- were meeting senior aides to discuss the next moves.

The UNP had indicated it may go it alone in the next general election in 2020 as the rift between Wickremesinghe and Sirisena and their supporters deepened.

Sri Lanka's ruling alliance was humiliated Sunday in local elections seen as a test of its leadership and the party of ex-president Mahinda Rajapakse was on track for a shock landslide victory, results showed

Sri Lanka's ruling alliance was humiliated Sunday in local elections seen as a test of its leadership and the party of ex-president Mahinda Rajapakse was on track for a shock landslide victory, results showed Sunday. The mid-term polls further strained the uneasy coalition between President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as they faced a resurgent challenger in Rajapakse's new party. Official results showed Rajapakse's Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna -- SLPP or People's Front -- had won 143 of the 182 councils counted so far, out of a total of 340. Wickremesinghe's United National Party was a distant second with 17 councils while Sirisena's Freedom Alliance languished with just seven. Unofficial results showed Rajapakse's party comfortably leading in all regions bar the battled-scarred north and east where, as president, he brutally crushed a separatist movement to end the island's ethnic war in 2009. The vote affects only the lowest rungs of Sri Lankan politics but the result is being seen as a stinging rebuke to the ruling coalition, which has struggled to pass promised post-war reforms. The alliance between Sirisena and Wickremesinghe -- who teamed up to defeat Rajapakse in a presidential election in 2015 -- has frayed as both men have levelled allegations of corruption and backstabbing against the other. Wickremesinghe's UNP had been expected to lead Saturday's poll while the parties led by Sirisena and Rajapakse were expected to fight for second. Rajapakse's surprise dominance was proof the people no longer had faith in the tattered ruling alliance, said SLPP spokesman Gamini Lakshman Peiris. "This was a referendum on the government. It has no legal or democratic right to remain in power," Peiris told reporters. Neither the president or prime minister were commenting on the result. Official sources said both men -- who campaigned separately for their respective parties -- were meeting senior aides to discuss the next moves. The UNP had indicated it may go it alone in the next general election in 2020 as the rift between Wickremesinghe and Sirisena and their supporters deepened.

Ruling Sri Lanka alliance humiliated in local elections, ex-president Rajapaksa's party on track for shock landslide win

For eight years now, western nations and the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva have slammed the Sri Lankan Armed Forces (SLAF)&nbsp;and the former Sri Lankan government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa for brutal human rights violations&nbsp;during Sri Lanka&rsquo;s three-decade long civil war against the separatist terror group, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).&nbsp;Of special focus for the West has been&nbsp;the last phase of the war that took place around the Nanthikadal lagoon in North Eastern Sri Lanka. &nbsp;

Repeated resolutions have been introduced against the past and present governments in Colombo for failing to acknowledge that their armed forces killed 40,000 civilians caught in the cross-fire and continued with a three-pronged assault on the last of the fleeing Tiger leadership, instead of calling a ceasefire.

Colombo,&nbsp;the SLAF and various independent war monitors present on the ground during that last phase of war, have repeatedly argued&nbsp;that the figures didn&rsquo;t match up. It has been pointed out in vain that the small country&#39;s administration and the SLAF have&nbsp;records of all births and deaths, that Colombo has always had administrative control even over Tiger-held areas in the main battlegrounds of North and East Sri Lanka, that the United Nations itself had initially estimated around 7000 deaths and inexplicably upped that figure in later months - and finally,&nbsp;that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) - the only outside agency present in the war zone during the last phase - itself had used various statistical evidence&nbsp;and arrived at the conclusion that a total of 7000 people lost their lives.&nbsp;

But all logic fell on deaf ears.&nbsp;A UN body commissioned for the task came out with the so-called Darusman Report claiming the inflated figure of 40,000 as the last word on the matter and all western governments accepted it unquestioningly.&nbsp;

Last week, there was a sensational presentation in the House of Lords in&nbsp;London. Lord Naseby, a UK parliamentarian who heads&nbsp;a British parliamentarian group supportive of Sri Lanka presented damning evidence to his government. UK governments are used to Lord Naseby, the &quot;Old Sri Lanka Hand&quot; springing frequently to the defence of the country he has been involved with for 45 years.&nbsp;&nbsp;But this was a presentation that made them sit up and - cringe. And WION&rsquo;s follow-up interview with Lord Naseby, conducted&nbsp;by correspondent Mandy Clark in London just days after his presentation, is currently making&nbsp;waves in Sri Lanka&nbsp;with leading Colombo commentators calling the WION&nbsp;report a &lsquo;media coup of sorts&rsquo;.

Lord Naseby told WION&rsquo;s Mandy Clark how he went about the onerous task of accessing confidential reports compiled&nbsp;by none other than London&rsquo;s own Defence Attache present in Sri Lanka during the infamous last phase of war in 2009. And came up with some startling discoveries.

&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve tracked the war carefully because I just couldn&rsquo;t believe these official figures - they didn&rsquo;t stack up to the information I was getting,&rdquo; Lord Naseby told WION. &quot;So I then invoked our freedom of information inquiry&quot;. (Equivalent to India&#39;s RTI).&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

&ldquo;I asked for the dispatches sent by our Defence Attache to our foreign office during the last days of the war. The application was refused twice by our foreign office. I then applied directly to the information commissioner - which is my right &ndash; and got 26 pages of redacted dispatches. Missing were the last six weeks of them. &nbsp;So I appealed again. And lo and behold, another 12 arrived. I went through them very carefully.&nbsp;

And in there, there was more than enough evidence that no one in the Sri Lankan government had said anything about killing any civilians at all. That was not the objective of the exercise. And from our Defence attache&rsquo;s dispatches, I thus gleaned that about 7000 were probably killed. And even (the Attache) says that about a quarter of those killed were possibly Tamil Tigers (LTTE), because they&rsquo;d thrown away their uniforms.&rdquo;

Classified documents were not Lord Naseby&rsquo;s only source.&nbsp;He asked university experts who are &quot;traditionally left-wing.&quot; They, too, told him&nbsp;that 7000 casualties was their estimate. There was other evidence too, like&nbsp;what US ambassador to Sri Lanka, Robert Blake, had named a tentative casualty figure:&nbsp;about 5000, a few days before the end of the war.

The reasons for western nations targeting Sri Lankan governments and its armed forces and threatening them with dire - usually economic - consequences - are&nbsp;not hard to understand. Sri Lanka is reeling under external debt and thus has an arm that is particularly easy to twist at this time. About 9,50,000 Sri Lankan Tamils fled their country to settle overseas during the 30 years of war. Many rose to positions powerful enough to dictate to local members of parliament in their overseas constituencies. Add to that the huge attractiveness of the island-nation of Sri Lanka, its bounty of natural resources and its highly strategic location at the crossroads of oil shipping lanes in the Indian Ocean.

The LTTE were the inventors of the fidayeen attack - the suicide bomb - and of the horrendous practice of forcibly recruiting child soldiers. And yet, the UK and EU countries gave shelter to many LTTE cadres and some LTTE&nbsp;top brass who fled the last stage of war. The Tamil Tigers are proscribed by most countries including the UK, the US, and the EU. And yet,&nbsp;the UK allows Tamils to celebrate LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran&rsquo;s birthday and hoist the flag of the banned organization in public&nbsp;every year.&nbsp;

Lord Naseby says that he keeps telling the Metropolitan Police of London that it is wrong to allow such demonstrations. But that the police claim that the demonstrators cleverly change tiny details on the flag each year,&nbsp;in order to escape the ban on the original design.

The MP,&nbsp;who has lived and worked in India for many years before he was transferred to Sri Lanka, also reminds Indian readers and viewers of WION that is was the LTTE who killed former PM Rajiv Gandhi. But while he has appealed to&nbsp;the UK government to amend the erroneous casualty count from 40000 down to 7000, he is all for an investigation into some controversial deaths during the last phase of war, such as the killing of three top Tigers despite their attempt to surrender carrying a white flag.&nbsp;

&ldquo;Of course, those really guilty of war crimes must be investigated. But to decry the entire&nbsp;leadership of Sri Lanka as war criminals - it&rsquo;s not done,&rdquo; Lord Naseby told WION.

The British parliamentarian also acknowledges that Sri Lanka&rsquo;s current government under President Maithripala Sirisena is making sincere attempts to resettle and address the concerns of the Tamils of the North and East of Sri Lanka, whose lives were shattered by the war. But Lord Naseby is keen that the world finally sees the Tamil Tigers in the right perspective: as a proscribed organization that systematically killed the most influential and educated Tamil leaders to ensure the solitary supremacy of its own tyrannical chief: Velupillai Prabhakaran.

(With inputs from Mandy Clark, London)

British Lord quotes UK's own classified files to prove 'manipulation' of number of civilian deaths.

For eight years now, western nations and the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva have slammed the Sri Lankan Armed Forces (SLAF) and the former Sri Lankan government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa for brutal human rights violations during Sri Lanka’s three-decade long civil war against the separatist terror group, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Of special focus for the West has been the last phase of the war that took place around the Nanthikadal lagoon in North Eastern Sri Lanka. Repeated resolutions have been introduced against the past and present governments in Colombo for failing to acknowledge that their armed forces killed 40,000 civilians caught in the cross-fire and continued with a three-pronged assault on the last of the fleeing Tiger leadership, instead of calling a ceasefire. Colombo, the SLAF and various independent war monitors present on the ground during that last phase of war, have repeatedly argued that the figures didn’t match up. It has been pointed out in vain that the small country's administration and the SLAF have records of all births and deaths, that Colombo has always had administrative control even over Tiger-held areas in the main battlegrounds of North and East Sri Lanka, that the United Nations itself had initially estimated around 7000 deaths and inexplicably upped that figure in later months - and finally, that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) - the only outside agency present in the war zone during the last phase - itself had used various statistical evidence and arrived at the conclusion that a total of 7000 people lost their lives. But all logic fell on deaf ears. A UN body commissioned for the task came out with the so-called Darusman Report claiming the inflated figure of 40,000 as the last word on the matter and all western governments accepted it unquestioningly. Last week, there was a sensational presentation in the House of Lords in London. Lord Naseby, a UK parliamentarian who heads a British parliamentarian group supportive of Sri Lanka presented damning evidence to his government. UK governments are used to Lord Naseby, the "Old Sri Lanka Hand" springing frequently to the defence of the country he has been involved with for 45 years. But this was a presentation that made them sit up and - cringe. And WION’s follow-up interview with Lord Naseby, conducted by correspondent Mandy Clark in London just days after his presentation, is currently making waves in Sri Lanka with leading Colombo commentators calling the WION report a ‘media coup of sorts’. Lord Naseby told WION’s Mandy Clark how he went about the onerous task of accessing confidential reports compiled by none other than London’s own Defence Attache present in Sri Lanka during the infamous last phase of war in 2009. And came up with some startling discoveries. “I’ve tracked the war carefully because I just couldn’t believe these official figures - they didn’t stack up to the information I was getting,” Lord Naseby told WION. "So I then invoked our freedom of information inquiry". (Equivalent to India's RTI). “I asked for the dispatches sent by our Defence Attache to our foreign office during the last days of the war. The application was refused twice by our foreign office. I then applied directly to the information commissioner - which is my right – and got 26 pages of redacted dispatches. Missing were the last six weeks of them. So I appealed again. And lo and behold, another 12 arrived. I went through them very carefully. And in there, there was more than enough evidence that no one in the Sri Lankan government had said anything about killing any civilians at all. That was not the objective of the exercise. And from our Defence attache’s dispatches, I thus gleaned that about 7000 were probably killed. And even (the Attache) says that about a quarter of those killed were possibly Tamil Tigers (LTTE), because they’d thrown away their uniforms.” Classified documents were not Lord Naseby’s only source. He asked university experts who are "traditionally left-wing." They, too, told him that 7000 casualties was their estimate. There was other evidence too, like what US ambassador to Sri Lanka, Robert Blake, had named a tentative casualty figure: about 5000, a few days before the end of the war. The reasons for western nations targeting Sri Lankan governments and its armed forces and threatening them with dire - usually economic - consequences - are not hard to understand. Sri Lanka is reeling under external debt and thus has an arm that is particularly easy to twist at this time. About 9,50,000 Sri Lankan Tamils fled their country to settle overseas during the 30 years of war. Many rose to positions powerful enough to dictate to local members of parliament in their overseas constituencies. Add to that the huge attractiveness of the island-nation of Sri Lanka, its bounty of natural resources and its highly strategic location at the crossroads of oil shipping lanes in the Indian Ocean. The LTTE were the inventors of the fidayeen attack - the suicide bomb - and of the horrendous practice of forcibly recruiting child soldiers. And yet, the UK and EU countries gave shelter to many LTTE cadres and some LTTE top brass who fled the last stage of war. The Tamil Tigers are proscribed by most countries including the UK, the US, and the EU. And yet, the UK allows Tamils to celebrate LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran’s birthday and hoist the flag of the banned organization in public every year. Lord Naseby says that he keeps telling the Metropolitan Police of London that it is wrong to allow such demonstrations. But that the police claim that the demonstrators cleverly change tiny details on the flag each year, in order to escape the ban on the original design. The MP, who has lived and worked in India for many years before he was transferred to Sri Lanka, also reminds Indian readers and viewers of WION that is was the LTTE who killed former PM Rajiv Gandhi. But while he has appealed to the UK government to amend the erroneous casualty count from 40000 down to 7000, he is all for an investigation into some controversial deaths during the last phase of war, such as the killing of three top Tigers despite their attempt to surrender carrying a white flag. “Of course, those really guilty of war crimes must be investigated. But to decry the entire leadership of Sri Lanka as war criminals - it’s not done,” Lord Naseby told WION. The British parliamentarian also acknowledges that Sri Lanka’s current government under President Maithripala Sirisena is making sincere attempts to resettle and address the concerns of the Tamils of the North and East of Sri Lanka, whose lives were shattered by the war. But Lord Naseby is keen that the world finally sees the Tamil Tigers in the right perspective: as a proscribed organization that systematically killed the most influential and educated Tamil leaders to ensure the solitary supremacy of its own tyrannical chief: Velupillai Prabhakaran. (With inputs from Mandy Clark, London)

UN fudged Sri Lanka war casualty figures, UK Parliamentarian says citing classified files

Namal Rajapaksa, son of Sri Lanka&rsquo;s former president Mahinda Rajapaksa and MP in Colombo&rsquo;s parliament is&nbsp;in the news again. This time, he was arrested during a demonstration outside India&rsquo;s consulate in his home constituency - the southeastern district of Hambantota. 

Rajapaksa spoke to WION&rsquo;s senior foreign editor Padma Rao Sundarji,&nbsp;the day after being released on bail early this week. The 31-year-old is no newcomer to politics - his father was in office for two terms and is widely credited even by his critics as being the first Sri Lankan head of state to bring the 30-year-long bloody civil war against the Tamil Tigers to an end in 2009.

&nbsp;Namal Rajapaksa talks about&nbsp;why he was arrested while demonstrating outside the Indian Consulate in Sri Lanka, his country&#39;s relations with New Delhi and Beijing and the current government of President Maithripala Sirisena.&nbsp;

Q: Namal Rajapaksa, for months now, there seems to be huge mistrust building up towards India in Sri Lanka. There are rumors that India has been offered a 99-year long lease on what is known as the &lsquo;&rsquo;emptiest airport in the world&rdquo; &ndash; one your father built for $209 million&nbsp;taken as a loan from China. Was your protest that took place very close to the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport, connected with these rumors too?

A:&nbsp;Initially, we asked our government to explain their program because Sri Lanka&rsquo;s English media and&nbsp;also the Indian media&nbsp;was reporting that Colombo intends to lease Mattala to the Indian airport company GMR. At the same time, the Sinhala language media was reporting something else. People were confused. &nbsp;

The same thing had happened over the Hambantota port close by too. At one point, the government kept saying they have no plans for the port. Then all of a sudden, the survey department arrived and began to measure 15, 000 acres.

That land has been leased to China. The same is happening over Mattala airport now. The government&rsquo;s spokesman has been very vocal about the airport. He has been saying we need to give it to India because of geopolitical aspects. We want to balance India - that&rsquo;s the term he used&nbsp;- for giving China the Hambantota seaport.&nbsp;

Naturally, the people of the area are frustrated and worried about their homeland, where they were brought up and where they have lived for so many years. So, we got together with religious leaders and others of the area to hand over a letter to the Indian government through India&rsquo;s consul-general in Hambantota.

It was a peaceful march to the consulate. But on the way back, some incidents took place, some collisions between the police and the people took place. The end result was that we had our passports remanded.

Q: Sri Lanka is in heavy external debt, mainly towards China. In Hambantota, it did a debt for equity swap with China, which had built the port and given away the land you mentioned. India expressed its concerns to Colombo since the port may be used by China for its military ships and disturb regional security. Mattala airport is hardly used and the government is running into losses. What is wrong if it offers the airport on a similarly long lease to India?

A: Our struggle is not against China or India. It is for our people and what we get out of it. At the end of the day, it is Sri Lankans, the people of Hambantota who have to live there. It is their homeland, their asset.

China helped my father&rsquo;s government tremendously. Same goes for India. They have helped us for generations. Unfortunately, our current government is trying to build the India-SL relationship based on political advantage. Not on the cultural, religious, trade relationship that we all enjoyed for generations.&nbsp;

It has now become very politicised. That&rsquo;s the reason we took to the streets&nbsp; -&nbsp;for our own people, not against India or China.

The Indian Consul-General said he will make sure our letter is forwarded to the government of India in Delhi and also keep Colombo informed. It was our responsibility to inform them that a public demonstration is going to take place and we did our part. But the decisions are made in Colombo. It is not India&rsquo;s policy to take Mattala airport, it is our own government&rsquo;s policy. &nbsp;

Q: But Namal Rajapaksa, beyond giving the airport to India on a long lease, are there any other serious issues involving this deal that you are objecting to? Some would say you are merely posturing to seize political advantage&hellip;

A:&nbsp;The government should come to terms with the people of the area and begin negotiating, listen to them and not mislead them. &nbsp;

When the Hambantota deal with China was being shaped, the government put forth a proposal to the cabinet. But it was totally different to one they brought up in parliament. &nbsp;

That, in turn, was totally different to what they actually decided. So it&rsquo;s natural for people to not trust this government because they always do what say they won&rsquo;t.

The government must educate people about&nbsp;what they are doing and what their intentions are. They can&rsquo;t simply send surveyors to tell people that their lands will be taken in six months. People should be given reasonable time. They should know what compensation they will get. They should know how the country will benefit.

Q:&nbsp;What solutions do you offer for revitalising Mattala airport and making it commercially viable?

A: Several things. For one, Mattala airport has to be run in coordination with the Hambantota seaport next door. They should both be connected to the sea and airport in Colombo. We have nothing against investors coming here and investing.

We need good operators to come. But the terms and conditions, the kinds of agreements that have been made, that is what we have a problem with. The Mattala airport has 5000 acres of which 2000 are earmarked for airport development, 3,000 for industries.

Mattala must be seen as a hub for transhipments and transit cargo and passengers.

You could connect the southern hemisphere with Europe and India with Singapore and Malaysia. Passengers would travel through Mattala and duty-free shopping would kick off.

On the 3,000 acres earmarked for the industry, airport-related industries including hospitality could come up there. But without promoting investment, this government is promoting management and that&rsquo;s simply not enough.

If we can manage Katunayake airport in Colombo and 1.2 million passengers use it, the same management can certainly do this in Hambantota too. And even if the government believes those people cannot manage both airports, it can go in for a management contract with other people &ndash; European, Indian &ndash; there are a million options.

Instead of going for a management agreement, our government is going for a lease agreement on a long-term basis!

If they really want to develop Mattala, there are enough options available. But look at the way the President behaved in January 2015 - they wanted to store paddy in Mattala airport. That&rsquo;s a clear indication that they are not serious. And that is one of the serious messages that both India and China should get.

Q: You and the protesters seem certain that it will be the Indian company GMR which will take over Mattala. We spoke to a source at that company&rsquo;s headquarters who categorically stated that GMR never was and never will be interested in Mattala&hellip;.

A:&nbsp;I am sure GMR doesn&#39;t want to get involved in political turbulence, after all, they had one bad experience in the Maldives recently.

But again&nbsp;our struggle has nothing to do with GMR or the Indian or the Chinese governments. However and going by what you tell me, I feel that if GMR is clear that they are not involved, they should clarify that to the Sri Lankan media. In fact, two MPs brought up GMR even in parliament, based on those media reports.

GMR should clear itself if it is not an interested party.

Q: But relations between Colombo and New Delhi have stagnated. Sri Lanka is caught in a balancing act between its dependence on China and its old ties with India. That&rsquo;s a foreign policy conundrum anyone would find difficult to solve&hellip;

A:&nbsp;The Sri Lankan government should keep its foreign policy non-aligned. We need India, we need China, we need Europe, we need the world.

Any and all of them can give us technology, we should keep an open mind. As far as Mattala is concerned, we hear they are negotiating a deal worth $205 million&nbsp;and a 99-year lease with India. What is the justification? If you are in debt and can&rsquo;t pay back your loans, why are you practically selling an asset that can make money?

And a deal that will have serious implications for Sri Lanka&rsquo;s national security? Airports and seaports are gateways to your country...

In this case, the harbour master and the airport control tower will each belong to two different countries (China and India respectively) who are involved in a huge geopolitical struggle in the region. One will have sea control and one will have air control. We are asking for trouble...

Namal Rajapaksa, son of Sri Lanka?s former president Mahinda Rajapaksa spoke to WION, the day after being released on bail early this week.

Namal Rajapaksa, son of Sri Lanka’s former president Mahinda Rajapaksa and MP in Colombo’s parliament is in the news again. This time, he was arrested during a demonstration outside India’s consulate in his home constituency - the southeastern district of Hambantota. Rajapaksa spoke to WION’s senior foreign editor Padma Rao Sundarji, the day after being released on bail early this week. The 31-year-old is no newcomer to politics - his father was in office for two terms and is widely credited even by his critics as being the first Sri Lankan head of state to bring the 30-year-long bloody civil war against the Tamil Tigers to an end in 2009. Namal Rajapaksa talks about why he was arrested while demonstrating outside the Indian Consulate in Sri Lanka, his country's relations with New Delhi and Beijing and the current government of President Maithripala Sirisena. Q: Namal Rajapaksa, for months now, there seems to be huge mistrust building up towards India in Sri Lanka. There are rumors that India has been offered a 99-year long lease on what is known as the ‘’emptiest airport in the world” – one your father built for $209 million taken as a loan from China. Was your protest that took place very close to the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport, connected with these rumors too? A: Initially, we asked our government to explain their program because Sri Lanka’s English media and also the Indian media was reporting that Colombo intends to lease Mattala to the Indian airport company GMR. At the same time, the Sinhala language media was reporting something else. People were confused. The same thing had happened over the Hambantota port close by too. At one point, the government kept saying they have no plans for the port. Then all of a sudden, the survey department arrived and began to measure 15, 000 acres. That land has been leased to China. The same is happening over Mattala airport now. The government’s spokesman has been very vocal about the airport. He has been saying we need to give it to India because of geopolitical aspects. We want to balance India - that’s the term he used - for giving China the Hambantota seaport. Naturally, the people of the area are frustrated and worried about their homeland, where they were brought up and where they have lived for so many years. So, we got together with religious leaders and others of the area to hand over a letter to the Indian government through India’s consul-general in Hambantota. It was a peaceful march to the consulate. But on the way back, some incidents took place, some collisions between the police and the people took place. The end result was that we had our passports remanded. Q: Sri Lanka is in heavy external debt, mainly towards China. In Hambantota, it did a debt for equity swap with China, which had built the port and given away the land you mentioned. India expressed its concerns to Colombo since the port may be used by China for its military ships and disturb regional security. Mattala airport is hardly used and the government is running into losses. What is wrong if it offers the airport on a similarly long lease to India? A: Our struggle is not against China or India. It is for our people and what we get out of it. At the end of the day, it is Sri Lankans, the people of Hambantota who have to live there. It is their homeland, their asset. China helped my father’s government tremendously. Same goes for India. They have helped us for generations. Unfortunately, our current government is trying to build the India-SL relationship based on political advantage. Not on the cultural, religious, trade relationship that we all enjoyed for generations. It has now become very politicised. That’s the reason we took to the streets - for our own people, not against India or China. The Indian Consul-General said he will make sure our letter is forwarded to the government of India in Delhi and also keep Colombo informed. It was our responsibility to inform them that a public demonstration is going to take place and we did our part. But the decisions are made in Colombo. It is not India’s policy to take Mattala airport, it is our own government’s policy. Q: But Namal Rajapaksa, beyond giving the airport to India on a long lease, are there any other serious issues involving this deal that you are objecting to? Some would say you are merely posturing to seize political advantage… A: The government should come to terms with the people of the area and begin negotiating, listen to them and not mislead them. When the Hambantota deal with China was being shaped, the government put forth a proposal to the cabinet. But it was totally different to one they brought up in parliament. That, in turn, was totally different to what they actually decided. So it’s natural for people to not trust this government because they always do what say they won’t. The government must educate people about what they are doing and what their intentions are. They can’t simply send surveyors to tell people that their lands will be taken in six months. People should be given reasonable time. They should know what compensation they will get. They should know how the country will benefit. Q: What solutions do you offer for revitalising Mattala airport and making it commercially viable? A: Several things. For one, Mattala airport has to be run in coordination with the Hambantota seaport next door. They should both be connected to the sea and airport in Colombo. We have nothing against investors coming here and investing. We need good operators to come. But the terms and conditions, the kinds of agreements that have been made, that is what we have a problem with. The Mattala airport has 5000 acres of which 2000 are earmarked for airport development, 3,000 for industries. Mattala must be seen as a hub for transhipments and transit cargo and passengers. You could connect the southern hemisphere with Europe and India with Singapore and Malaysia. Passengers would travel through Mattala and duty-free shopping would kick off. On the 3,000 acres earmarked for the industry, airport-related industries including hospitality could come up there. But without promoting investment, this government is promoting management and that’s simply not enough. If we can manage Katunayake airport in Colombo and 1.2 million passengers use it, the same management can certainly do this in Hambantota too. And even if the government believes those people cannot manage both airports, it can go in for a management contract with other people – European, Indian – there are a million options. Instead of going for a management agreement, our government is going for a lease agreement on a long-term basis! If they really want to develop Mattala, there are enough options available. But look at the way the President behaved in January 2015 - they wanted to store paddy in Mattala airport. That’s a clear indication that they are not serious. And that is one of the serious messages that both India and China should get. Q: You and the protesters seem certain that it will be the Indian company GMR which will take over Mattala. We spoke to a source at that company’s headquarters who categorically stated that GMR never was and never will be interested in Mattala…. A: I am sure GMR doesn't want to get involved in political turbulence, after all, they had one bad experience in the Maldives recently. But again our struggle has nothing to do with GMR or the Indian or the Chinese governments. However and going by what you tell me, I feel that if GMR is clear that they are not involved, they should clarify that to the Sri Lankan media. In fact, two MPs brought up GMR even in parliament, based on those media reports. GMR should clear itself if it is not an interested party. Q: But relations between Colombo and New Delhi have stagnated. Sri Lanka is caught in a balancing act between its dependence on China and its old ties with India. That’s a foreign policy conundrum anyone would find difficult to solve… A: The Sri Lankan government should keep its foreign policy non-aligned. We need India, we need China, we need Europe, we need the world. Any and all of them can give us technology, we should keep an open mind. As far as Mattala is concerned, we hear they are negotiating a deal worth $205 million and a 99-year lease with India. What is the justification? If you are in debt and can’t pay back your loans, why are you practically selling an asset that can make money? And a deal that will have serious implications for Sri Lanka’s national security? Airports and seaports are gateways to your country... In this case, the harbour master and the airport control tower will each belong to two different countries (China and India respectively) who are involved in a huge geopolitical struggle in the region. One will have sea control and one will have air control. We are asking for trouble...

Watch WION exclusive: 'Nothing against India,' says Namal Rajapaksa

Mahinda Rajapaksa was President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to 2015. He is a human rights lawyer by profession, but has been the butt of &nbsp;widespread outrage and criticism for alleged human rights violations by the Sri Lankan armed forces during the final stages of the 30-year long civil war against the armed separatist group, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which invented the &quot;suicide bomb&quot;,&nbsp;forcibly recruited child soldiers and used civilians as human shields. In his first global television interview since his election defeat in 2015, Rajapaksa spoke to WION&rsquo;s senior international correspondent Padma Rao Sundarji for the &quot;World Is One: Global Leadership&quot;&nbsp;series at his residence in Colombo. 
&nbsp; 
Padma Rao Sundarji: President Mahinda Rajapaksa, it&rsquo;s a pleasure to see you again. Thank you for receiving me and WION for this exclusive interview. I&rsquo;ll start with India/China/Pakistan -the region. Sri Lanka is today steeped in external debt to China. The current government under President Maithripala Sirisena is under tremendous pressure. It is slated to give China up to 80% stake&nbsp;in the port of Hambantota and a 99-year lease on 15,000 acres of land nearby. Your critics say that it is your government that began the dependency on China, your supporters blame the present government in Colombo. Either way, India is not happy. Who is more responsible? 
&nbsp; 
Mahinda Rajapaksa: They say we are responsible and we say the present government is responsible. Some even say India is responsible. &nbsp;We had decided to consciously re-orient our countries towards Asia, which, of course, means the two power houses India and China. We did this for more than one reason. Firstly, we identify ourselves as Asians and therefore we identify our destiny as part of that of the continent of Asia. Secondly, Asia is our civilizational and cultural comfort zone. Thirdly, we look to Asia to protect us and help counter-balance pressures on our nation&rsquo;s sovereignty from outside the region. We continue to hope to benefit from the economic rise of Asia propelled by the growth of its two giants, India and China. &nbsp;But there was no dependency on China under my government &mdash;&nbsp;I must tell you that. All projects were income-yielding. Repayment was commercially feasible. &nbsp;Take the Hambantota sea port. First, I went to India,&nbsp;and I requested them&nbsp;I want a harbour port here and asked whether they could please help us. But you know&hellip;the Indian way. You can&#39;t blame them either because the private sector is involved and then there was red tape, etc. All in all, they were not prepared to accept because the (Sri Lankan civil) war was going on, not only the north and east, but even in other parts of the country. Then, I think in 2006, I went to China. There, I negotiated the port. They immediately gave it to me within that year. But it was a loan that we could afford, because we knew from the income we get that we can pay it back. We were not depending on them (China). It was a direct loan, for which we never gave them the port. After that and for the second and third phases, we negotiated with them on a Supply-Operate-Transfer (SOT) basis. But only for the terminal. not the port! And even in the terminal, they had to pay for the land. We never gave them land like this (the current government). &nbsp;Unfortunately with this government, it&rsquo;s their approach. As soon as they came to power, they cancelled all these contracts, all these agreements with China and antagonised Beijing. &nbsp;Thereafter, of course everything changed. Now they are offering 15,000 acres &ndash; we never offered them anything like that. What they are doing now is &mdash;&nbsp;I would say, they are selling the country. 
&nbsp; 
Padma Rao Sundarji: China is Sri Lanka&#39;s largest trading partner and biggest investor. Even some Sri Lankans say that China is slowly colonising your country. You and the factions supporting you are yourselves protesting the Hambantota deal with China. And yet, your prime minister,&nbsp;Ranil Wickremesinghe&nbsp;is expected to initial the deal when he visits China in May. Colombo&#39;s Port City Project too&nbsp;is steaming ahead. And through the docking of its nuclear submarines, China has already made it clear that it has larger, strategic interests in Sri Lanka and the Indian Ocean region. &nbsp;Is it too late to revert this process of near colonisation of Sri Lanka by China? 
&nbsp; 
Mahinda Rajapaksa: &nbsp;There was no idea of colonisation in our time. China is a valued friend and a partner in development, that&rsquo;s all. &nbsp;However, there is a significant difference between our approach and that of the present government. The Chinese projects were negotiated by the last government (ours) as per the structures I described. For Hambantota, it was a Supply-Operate-Transfer (SOT) arrangement only for the terminal and the land was leased to them. So there can be no talk of colonisation as such. But this government has changed all those policies. That is why all this is happening now. 
&nbsp; 
Padma Rao Sundarji: To decimate the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), against whom there was a brutal civil war for 30 years, your government received arms, training and even aircraft from China and Pakistan. Did you ask India to help at the time and if so, how did New Delhi react? 
&nbsp; 
Mahinda Rajapaksa: But they helped us! We didn&rsquo;t have to ask! Because I was fighting your war, India&#39;s&nbsp;war, not my war, actually. The LTTE killed your prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi and so many other people in India and on your soil, not ours. So in that way, it was not only my war, it was an Indian war, it was a humanitarian war. India helped us in every possible way. We didn&rsquo;t want to publicise&nbsp;it, tell the press too much. &nbsp;And not only China and Pakistan, even the British and the Americans helped us. 
&nbsp; 
Padma Rao Sundarji:&nbsp;Pakistan is a hotbed of Islamist terrorism, mostly targeted at India. The Maldives too, have been home to the maximum number of Islamic State recruits in South Asia and is being rapidly influenced by Saudi Wah&rsquo;abi Islam. Bangladesh has seen IS terror and sleeper cells. Your justice minister recently said that 31 &ldquo;elite Sri Lankan Muslims&rdquo; had joined the IS&nbsp;too. Given all this, it&rsquo;s surely better for Sri Lanka to improve relations with India, than ignore the dangers from Islamist terrorism in the region? &nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
Mahinda Rajapaksa: We believe in improving relations with all countries in our neighbourhood, this I must tell you. Both India and Pakistan have helped us as best as they can, we have traditionally been friends of both. And that friendship has not been mutually exclusive and contradictory, that is, friendship with one has not been at the expense of the other. We are mindful of the sentiments of our citizens of Islamic faith. You will remember that our former PM, Mrs Sirimavo Bandaranaike was a close friend of the Islamic world. &nbsp;Of course, we have only one neighbour, India. It&#39;s a subcontinent and where our Tamil citizens have cultural, linguistic and civilizational links. &nbsp;For all those reasons our relationship and friendship with India is quite special. Even unique,&nbsp;I would say. 
&nbsp; 
Padma Rao Sundarji: Mr Rajapaksa, you had promised to bring about a solution to the demand for Tamil autonomy in your Northern and Eastern Provinces. India insists on the implementation of the so-called 13th Amendment to the Sri Lankan constitution which Rajiv Gandhi&rsquo;s government had co-authored and both parties signed in 1987. Thirty years on, is it the best solution? 
&nbsp; 
Mahinda Rajapaksa: I won&rsquo;t say it&rsquo;s the best solution. If it were, the problem would have surely been solved by now. We must remember that all communities must get together to give a solution. You can&rsquo;t come up with one solution only to satisfy one section or community. We have to satisfy all. 
&nbsp; 
Padma Rao Sundarji: The fishermen&#39;s issue and the Kachaithivu agreement make headlines in both India and Sri Lanka every day. What&rsquo;s at the bottom of both and how can they be resolved once and for all times? 
&nbsp; 
Mahinda Rajapaksa: Fishermen only follow the fish, they are not worried about borders. But it is our duty &ndash;&nbsp;that of Delhi and Colombo &ndash; to stop this, we must have the political will to do so. Indian fishermen come here and deplete the entire seabed of fish by using bottom trawlers. So this must stop. And New Delhi must have the political will to stop it. 
&nbsp; 
Padma Rao Sundarji: You had accused India, specifically its Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) of engineering your election defeat in 2015. How so? 
&nbsp; 
Mahinda Rajapaksa&nbsp;(laughs): You know, I don&rsquo;t want to go into the past. What&rsquo;s done is done. It&rsquo;s a new page now. 
&nbsp; 
Padma Rao Sundarji: If you were to return to power - either with the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) faction that supports you or some other new party, would you want to recalibrate your relationship to India which was very tense during your years in office? 
&nbsp; 
Mahinda Rajapaksa: Frankly, I think both my government and this government and may I say even earlier governments like that of President JR Jayawardene have learned lessons in geopolitics and economics! No Sri Lankan government can fail to recognise that Sri Lanka cannot afford to antagonise the two Asian giants &ndash; China and India. We have learned our lessons by now. So it&rsquo;s in our national interest to very carefully balance and maintain equilibrium between the two. 
&nbsp; 
Padma Rao Sundarji: A report in The Hindu suggests that you and your brother, former defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa have fallen out and that Ram Madhav, Indian PM Narendra Modi&#39;s special man for Sri Lanka, is involved in engineering some sort of a political arrangement which will include your brother and suit Indian interests. Can you comment on that report? 
&nbsp; 
Mahinda Rajapaksa: I didn&rsquo;t see the report, only heard about it. &nbsp;But there has been no falling out between Gotabhaya and me in the past, in the present and there will not be one in the future either. Our relationship is based on love, mutual respect, shared patriotic values but also the dangerous shared experience during the war. Why, he had dropped in only yesterday. I really &nbsp;don&rsquo;t know why they make stories up like this. It&rsquo;s not good for their paper, or even for the writer&hellip; 
&nbsp; 
Padma Rao Sundarji: What is your personal equation with PM Modi? You have met him several times, including at his own inauguration. Would you have any anecdotes to narrate? 
&nbsp; 
Mahinda Rajapaksa: I &nbsp;regard myself a friend of your PM Modi. I admire what he has done for your country, India. And his international prestige. I really like the way he has harnessed the support of the Indian diaspora in a way I couldn&rsquo;t! I admire his patriotism and his drive at modernising India. Yes we admire him, there&rsquo;s no question. 
&nbsp; 
Padma Rao Sundarji: Earlier this year, several former &quot;rehabilitated&quot;&nbsp;LTTE cadres were arrested for being part of a diaspora-hatched conspiracy to kill moderate Tamil leader MA&nbsp;Sumanthiran. Two years ago, three former Tigers including one &ldquo;Gobi&rdquo; were chased and gunned down and caches of weapons found in Sri Lanka&rsquo;s Northern Province. The Liberation Tigers have regrouped outside Sri Lanka. Does all this mean that the rehabilitation program started by your government has proved to be a failure? 
&nbsp; 
Mahinda Rajapaksa: Not at all. Our rehabilitation effort was successful and humane. What has been a disaster is the weakening of our security forces and our safety network in the former conflict areas. Weakening them has been a deliberate policy of the present government. I fear that disaster is looming. When we released them &ndash; about 12000 people &ndash; some were rehabilitated fully, then underwent the entire course. Then there were those who had taken only half of it. Finally there were others who somehow managed to escape that rehabilitation program. The LTTE diaspora is collecting money and they are powerful. So it is essential to have a good security network. Our intelligence networks must be strengthened. Instead, they have weakened it, because they are listening to the LTTE diaspora. 
&nbsp; 
Padma Rao Sundarji: But if the rehabilitation program was successful, then these stories of an LTTE resurgence are surely just politically-motivated rumors ? &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
Mahinda Rajapaksa: No, they are not. They&rsquo;re probably the tip of the iceberg. 
&nbsp; 
Padma Rao Sundarji: So you feel the problem is much larger? 
&nbsp; 
Mahinda Rajapaksa: Yes, much larger. 
&nbsp; 
Padma Rao Sundarji: Former Tiger Karuna has formed the Tamil Freedom Party in Batticaloa, another former Tiger the &ldquo;Rehabilitated Liberation Tigers Party in Trincomalee. &nbsp;&quot;Tamil freedom&quot;, &quot;Liberation Tigers&quot; - surely no Election Commission in united, post-war Sri Lanka can and should accept such party names? 
&nbsp; 
Mahinda Rajapaksa: &nbsp;Well, I support and encourage Karuna. He took a personal risk by coming into the mainstream and that cost him his brother Reggie&rsquo;s life &ndash; he was killed by the Tigers. Now if Karuna&rsquo;s forming a political party, I wish him luck. I don&rsquo;t know enough about the other party you mention. But rehabilitees must be able, free to start political parties. We must encourage them to come into peaceful, democratic, non-separatist politics. 
&nbsp; 
Padma Rao Sundarji: But surely with better names? 
&nbsp; 
Mahinda Rajapaksa: Yes, I suppose so&hellip;.I think the election commissioner will advise them.. 
&nbsp; 
Padma Rao Sundarji: You are widely credited &ndash; even by your detractors - as the first Sri Lankan president to bring the 30-year civil war to an end. Corruption charges against your family persist now. And yet, your popularity seems on a phenomenal upswing. A new party has been formed, it is asking you to leave the SLFP and lead it instead. Either way, will the next election see the return of Mahinda Rajapaksa into the fray? 
&nbsp; 
Mahinda Rajapaksa: Mahinda Rajapaksa never left the fray. As long as my country, my nation, my people are in danger and need me, I remain in the fray. 
&nbsp; 
Padma Rao Sundarji: So whether as PM or President, you will come back, in whichever role? 
&nbsp; 
Mahinda Rajapaksa: &nbsp;I must tell you that patriotic politics is not a job. It is my life&rsquo;s vocation.

Watch

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In this edition of WION&#39;s Global Leadership series, Padma Rao speaks to former president of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksa (WION)
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(WION)

Rajapaksa spoke to WION?s senior international correspondent Padma Rao Sundarji for the 'World Is One: Global Leadership' series

Mahinda Rajapaksa was President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to 2015. He is a human rights lawyer by profession, but has been the butt of widespread outrage and criticism for alleged human rights violations by the Sri Lankan armed forces during the final stages of the 30-year long civil war against the armed separatist group, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which invented the "suicide bomb", forcibly recruited child soldiers and used civilians as human shields. In his first global television interview since his election defeat in 2015, Rajapaksa spoke to WION’s senior international correspondent Padma Rao Sundarji for the "World Is One: Global Leadership" series at his residence in Colombo. Padma Rao Sundarji: President Mahinda Rajapaksa, it’s a pleasure to see you again. Thank you for receiving me and WION for this exclusive interview. I’ll start with India/China/Pakistan -the region. Sri Lanka is today steeped in external debt to China. The current government under President Maithripala Sirisena is under tremendous pressure. It is slated to give China up to 80% stake in the port of Hambantota and a 99-year lease on 15,000 acres of land nearby. Your critics say that it is your government that began the dependency on China, your supporters blame the present government in Colombo. Either way, India is not happy. Who is more responsible? Mahinda Rajapaksa: They say we are responsible and we say the present government is responsible. Some even say India is responsible. We had decided to consciously re-orient our countries towards Asia, which, of course, means the two power houses India and China. We did this for more than one reason. Firstly, we identify ourselves as Asians and therefore we identify our destiny as part of that of the continent of Asia. Secondly, Asia is our civilizational and cultural comfort zone. Thirdly, we look to Asia to protect us and help counter-balance pressures on our nation’s sovereignty from outside the region. We continue to hope to benefit from the economic rise of Asia propelled by the growth of its two giants, India and China. But there was no dependency on China under my government — I must tell you that. All projects were income-yielding. Repayment was commercially feasible. Take the Hambantota sea port. First, I went to India, and I requested them I want a harbour port here and asked whether they could please help us. But you know…the Indian way. You can't blame them either because the private sector is involved and then there was red tape, etc. All in all, they were not prepared to accept because the (Sri Lankan civil) war was going on, not only the north and east, but even in other parts of the country. Then, I think in 2006, I went to China. There, I negotiated the port. They immediately gave it to me within that year. But it was a loan that we could afford, because we knew from the income we get that we can pay it back. We were not depending on them (China). It was a direct loan, for which we never gave them the port. After that and for the second and third phases, we negotiated with them on a Supply-Operate-Transfer (SOT) basis. But only for the terminal. not the port! And even in the terminal, they had to pay for the land. We never gave them land like this (the current government). Unfortunately with this government, it’s their approach. As soon as they came to power, they cancelled all these contracts, all these agreements with China and antagonised Beijing. Thereafter, of course everything changed. Now they are offering 15,000 acres – we never offered them anything like that. What they are doing now is — I would say, they are selling the country. Padma Rao Sundarji: China is Sri Lanka's largest trading partner and biggest investor. Even some Sri Lankans say that China is slowly colonising your country. You and the factions supporting you are yourselves protesting the Hambantota deal with China. And yet, your prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe is expected to initial the deal when he visits China in May. Colombo's Port City Project too is steaming ahead. And through the docking of its nuclear submarines, China has already made it clear that it has larger, strategic interests in Sri Lanka and the Indian Ocean region. Is it too late to revert this process of near colonisation of Sri Lanka by China? Mahinda Rajapaksa: There was no idea of colonisation in our time. China is a valued friend and a partner in development, that’s all. However, there is a significant difference between our approach and that of the present government. The Chinese projects were negotiated by the last government (ours) as per the structures I described. For Hambantota, it was a Supply-Operate-Transfer (SOT) arrangement only for the terminal and the land was leased to them. So there can be no talk of colonisation as such. But this government has changed all those policies. That is why all this is happening now. Padma Rao Sundarji: To decimate the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), against whom there was a brutal civil war for 30 years, your government received arms, training and even aircraft from China and Pakistan. Did you ask India to help at the time and if so, how did New Delhi react? Mahinda Rajapaksa: But they helped us! We didn’t have to ask! Because I was fighting your war, India's war, not my war, actually. The LTTE killed your prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi and so many other people in India and on your soil, not ours. So in that way, it was not only my war, it was an Indian war, it was a humanitarian war. India helped us in every possible way. We didn’t want to publicise it, tell the press too much. And not only China and Pakistan, even the British and the Americans helped us. Padma Rao Sundarji: Pakistan is a hotbed of Islamist terrorism, mostly targeted at India. The Maldives too, have been home to the maximum number of Islamic State recruits in South Asia and is being rapidly influenced by Saudi Wah’abi Islam. Bangladesh has seen IS terror and sleeper cells. Your justice minister recently said that 31 “elite Sri Lankan Muslims” had joined the IS too. Given all this, it’s surely better for Sri Lanka to improve relations with India, than ignore the dangers from Islamist terrorism in the region? Mahinda Rajapaksa: We believe in improving relations with all countries in our neighbourhood, this I must tell you. Both India and Pakistan have helped us as best as they can, we have traditionally been friends of both. And that friendship has not been mutually exclusive and contradictory, that is, friendship with one has not been at the expense of the other. We are mindful of the sentiments of our citizens of Islamic faith. You will remember that our former PM, Mrs Sirimavo Bandaranaike was a close friend of the Islamic world. Of course, we have only one neighbour, India. It's a subcontinent and where our Tamil citizens have cultural, linguistic and civilizational links. For all those reasons our relationship and friendship with India is quite special. Even unique, I would say. Padma Rao Sundarji: Mr Rajapaksa, you had promised to bring about a solution to the demand for Tamil autonomy in your Northern and Eastern Provinces. India insists on the implementation of the so-called 13th Amendment to the Sri Lankan constitution which Rajiv Gandhi’s government had co-authored and both parties signed in 1987. Thirty years on, is it the best solution? Mahinda Rajapaksa: I won’t say it’s the best solution. If it were, the problem would have surely been solved by now. We must remember that all communities must get together to give a solution. You can’t come up with one solution only to satisfy one section or community. We have to satisfy all. Padma Rao Sundarji: The fishermen's issue and the Kachaithivu agreement make headlines in both India and Sri Lanka every day. What’s at the bottom of both and how can they be resolved once and for all times? Mahinda Rajapaksa: Fishermen only follow the fish, they are not worried about borders. But it is our duty – that of Delhi and Colombo – to stop this, we must have the political will to do so. Indian fishermen come here and deplete the entire seabed of fish by using bottom trawlers. So this must stop. And New Delhi must have the political will to stop it. Padma Rao Sundarji: You had accused India, specifically its Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) of engineering your election defeat in 2015. How so? Mahinda Rajapaksa (laughs): You know, I don’t want to go into the past. What’s done is done. It’s a new page now. Padma Rao Sundarji: If you were to return to power - either with the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) faction that supports you or some other new party, would you want to recalibrate your relationship to India which was very tense during your years in office? Mahinda Rajapaksa: Frankly, I think both my government and this government and may I say even earlier governments like that of President JR Jayawardene have learned lessons in geopolitics and economics! No Sri Lankan government can fail to recognise that Sri Lanka cannot afford to antagonise the two Asian giants – China and India. We have learned our lessons by now. So it’s in our national interest to very carefully balance and maintain equilibrium between the two. Padma Rao Sundarji: A report in The Hindu suggests that you and your brother, former defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa have fallen out and that Ram Madhav, Indian PM Narendra Modi's special man for Sri Lanka, is involved in engineering some sort of a political arrangement which will include your brother and suit Indian interests. Can you comment on that report? Mahinda Rajapaksa: I didn’t see the report, only heard about it. But there has been no falling out between Gotabhaya and me in the past, in the present and there will not be one in the future either. Our relationship is based on love, mutual respect, shared patriotic values but also the dangerous shared experience during the war. Why, he had dropped in only yesterday. I really don’t know why they make stories up like this. It’s not good for their paper, or even for the writer… Padma Rao Sundarji: What is your personal equation with PM Modi? You have met him several times, including at his own inauguration. Would you have any anecdotes to narrate? Mahinda Rajapaksa: I regard myself a friend of your PM Modi. I admire what he has done for your country, India. And his international prestige. I really like the way he has harnessed the support of the Indian diaspora in a way I couldn’t! I admire his patriotism and his drive at modernising India. Yes we admire him, there’s no question. Padma Rao Sundarji: Earlier this year, several former "rehabilitated" LTTE cadres were arrested for being part of a diaspora-hatched conspiracy to kill moderate Tamil leader MA Sumanthiran. Two years ago, three former Tigers including one “Gobi” were chased and gunned down and caches of weapons found in Sri Lanka’s Northern Province. The Liberation Tigers have regrouped outside Sri Lanka. Does all this mean that the rehabilitation program started by your government has proved to be a failure? Mahinda Rajapaksa: Not at all. Our rehabilitation effort was successful and humane. What has been a disaster is the weakening of our security forces and our safety network in the former conflict areas. Weakening them has been a deliberate policy of the present government. I fear that disaster is looming. When we released them – about 12000 people – some were rehabilitated fully, then underwent the entire course. Then there were those who had taken only half of it. Finally there were others who somehow managed to escape that rehabilitation program. The LTTE diaspora is collecting money and they are powerful. So it is essential to have a good security network. Our intelligence networks must be strengthened. Instead, they have weakened it, because they are listening to the LTTE diaspora. Padma Rao Sundarji: But if the rehabilitation program was successful, then these stories of an LTTE resurgence are surely just politically-motivated rumors ? Mahinda Rajapaksa: No, they are not. They’re probably the tip of the iceberg. Padma Rao Sundarji: So you feel the problem is much larger? Mahinda Rajapaksa: Yes, much larger. Padma Rao Sundarji: Former Tiger Karuna has formed the Tamil Freedom Party in Batticaloa, another former Tiger the “Rehabilitated Liberation Tigers Party in Trincomalee. "Tamil freedom", "Liberation Tigers" - surely no Election Commission in united, post-war Sri Lanka can and should accept such party names? Mahinda Rajapaksa: Well, I support and encourage Karuna. He took a personal risk by coming into the mainstream and that cost him his brother Reggie’s life – he was killed by the Tigers. Now if Karuna’s forming a political party, I wish him luck. I don’t know enough about the other party you mention. But rehabilitees must be able, free to start political parties. We must encourage them to come into peaceful, democratic, non-separatist politics. Padma Rao Sundarji: But surely with better names? Mahinda Rajapaksa: Yes, I suppose so….I think the election commissioner will advise them.. Padma Rao Sundarji: You are widely credited – even by your detractors - as the first Sri Lankan president to bring the 30-year civil war to an end. Corruption charges against your family persist now. And yet, your popularity seems on a phenomenal upswing. A new party has been formed, it is asking you to leave the SLFP and lead it instead. Either way, will the next election see the return of Mahinda Rajapaksa into the fray? Mahinda Rajapaksa: Mahinda Rajapaksa never left the fray. As long as my country, my nation, my people are in danger and need me, I remain in the fray. Padma Rao Sundarji: So whether as PM or President, you will come back, in whichever role? Mahinda Rajapaksa: I must tell you that patriotic politics is not a job. It is my life’s vocation. Watch In this edition of WION's Global Leadership series, Padma Rao speaks to former president of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksa (WION) × (WION)

Exclusive: Sri Lankan government selling the country, says ex-president Mahinda Rajapaksa

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe today challenged Mahinda Rajapaksa to topple the current government, days after the former president expressed his intent to make a political comeback by bringing down the government this year.

&quot;I will be going next week to Switzerland for one week giving Mahinda time to bring the government down,&quot; Wickremesinghe told reporters here.

Rajapaksa last week&nbsp;warned that the unity government headed by the President Maithripala Sirisena and Premier Wickremesinghe could be toppled in 2017 through a roll of the head count in the national parliament.

Wickremesinghe said that the government from today was launching its development drive with opening up factories and announcing its new development strategies.

Initially, an agreement is to be finalised with China for setting up&nbsp;a special economic zone&nbsp;in Hambantota, deep southern district.

&quot;We have signed the framework agreement and finished. Now we are doing the concessionary agreement. It will be signed soon. Both sides are now arguing about the tax concessions,&quot; Wickremesinghe said.

&quot;On the Hambantota port we will get one&nbsp;billion (dollars), the whole loan can be written off,&quot; he said.

Rajapaksa leads the local protests to the move to lease the port&#39;s 80 per cent stake to China for a $1.3 billion settlement.

He said he was not opposed to the setting up of the industrial park, but opposes the move to give 15,000 acres of lands of the locals to the Chinese.

(PTI) 
&nbsp;

Wickremesinghe challenges Rajapaksa to topple government

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe today challenged Mahinda Rajapaksa to topple the current government, days after the former president expressed his intent to make a political comeback by bringing down the government this year. "I will be going next week to Switzerland for one week giving Mahinda time to bring the government down," Wickremesinghe told reporters here. Rajapaksa last week warned that the unity government headed by the President Maithripala Sirisena and Premier Wickremesinghe could be toppled in 2017 through a roll of the head count in the national parliament. Wickremesinghe said that the government from today was launching its development drive with opening up factories and announcing its new development strategies. Initially, an agreement is to be finalised with China for setting up a special economic zone in Hambantota, deep southern district. "We have signed the framework agreement and finished. Now we are doing the concessionary agreement. It will be signed soon. Both sides are now arguing about the tax concessions," Wickremesinghe said. "On the Hambantota port we will get one billion (dollars), the whole loan can be written off," he said. Rajapaksa leads the local protests to the move to lease the port's 80 per cent stake to China for a $1.3 billion settlement. He said he was not opposed to the setting up of the industrial park, but opposes the move to give 15,000 acres of lands of the locals to the Chinese. (PTI)

'Giving Mahinda time to bring govt down': Sri Lankan PM challenges Rajapaksa

Sri Lankan financial crime police arrested today a brother of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa for a third time over suspicion of state fund misappropriation when he was economic development minister, a lawyer said. 
 
Rajapaksa&#39;s younger brother, Basil, is on bail after being arrested twice for alleged misappropriation of state funds and a land deal allegedly involving money laundering. Court hearings into the two cases are going on. 
 
He has denied any wrongdoing. 
 
Sirisena faces pressure to act on corruption allegations&nbsp; 
 
Sri Lanka&#39;s new President Maithripala Sirisena faces pressure to act on allegations of corruption dating back to the Rajapaksa era, especially from civil society organisations who backed his successful bid to oust Rajapaksa last year. 
 
Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was president for a decade until January 2015 and is now an opposition legislator, is popular among many ethnic majority Sinhala Buddhists who credit him with ending a 26-year-war against ethnic Tamil rebels in 2009. He is trying to rally opposition to the current government with the help of Basil. 
 
Basil Rajapaksa&#39;s lawyer, Jayantha Weerasinghe, told Reuters his client was remanded in custody until August 1 after police took him to court over the supply of building materials to district councils when he was a minister. 
 
&quot;We pointed out that nothing is irregular about this transaction. But irrespective of what we said, he was remanded,&quot; Weerasinghe said. 
 
Neither Basil Rajapaksa nor his family members were immediately available for comment. 
 
Rajapaksa&#39;s eldest son released on bail&nbsp; 
 
Several members of the Rajapaksa family are facing police investigations for alleged financial crimes. They include Mahinda Rajapaksa and his brothers Basil and Gotabaya. 
 
Mahinda Rajapaksa&#39;s eldest son, Namal Rajapaksa, who is also a member of parliament, was released by a court on bail today, media reported. 
 
He was arrested on July 11 for suspected misappropriation of funds in a high-end apartment project. 
 
Namal Rajapaksa denies wrongdoing as do his father and other relatives facing investigations. 
 
(Reuters)&nbsp; 
 
 
&nbsp;

Several members of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa's family are facing police investigations for alleged financial crimes

Sri Lankan financial crime police arrested today a brother of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa for a third time over suspicion of state fund misappropriation when he was economic development minister, a lawyer said. Rajapaksa's younger brother, Basil, is on bail after being arrested twice for alleged misappropriation of state funds and a land deal allegedly involving money laundering. Court hearings into the two cases are going on. He has denied any wrongdoing. Sirisena faces pressure to act on corruption allegations Sri Lanka's new President Maithripala Sirisena faces pressure to act on allegations of corruption dating back to the Rajapaksa era, especially from civil society organisations who backed his successful bid to oust Rajapaksa last year. Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was president for a decade until January 2015 and is now an opposition legislator, is popular among many ethnic majority Sinhala Buddhists who credit him with ending a 26-year-war against ethnic Tamil rebels in 2009. He is trying to rally opposition to the current government with the help of Basil. Basil Rajapaksa's lawyer, Jayantha Weerasinghe, told Reuters his client was remanded in custody until August 1 after police took him to court over the supply of building materials to district councils when he was a minister. "We pointed out that nothing is irregular about this transaction. But irrespective of what we said, he was remanded," Weerasinghe said. Neither Basil Rajapaksa nor his family members were immediately available for comment. Rajapaksa's eldest son released on bail Several members of the Rajapaksa family are facing police investigations for alleged financial crimes. They include Mahinda Rajapaksa and his brothers Basil and Gotabaya. Mahinda Rajapaksa's eldest son, Namal Rajapaksa, who is also a member of parliament, was released by a court on bail today, media reported. He was arrested on July 11 for suspected misappropriation of funds in a high-end apartment project. Namal Rajapaksa denies wrongdoing as do his father and other relatives facing investigations. (Reuters)

Sri Lanka: Former president's brother held for state fund misappropriation

The new Sri Lankan government acknowledged on Wednesday for the first time that about 65,000 went missing during its 26-year war with the separatist Tamil Tigers. This is being seen as a further step towards reconciliation.&nbsp; 
&nbsp;&nbsp; 
President Maithripala Sirisena has agreed to address past human rights violations through independent probes and to implement a resolution by the United Nation Human Rights Council (UNHRC). The UN and rights groups have long urged justice for the families of the missing, including the ones allegedly abducted by state-backed groups and paramilitary outfits.&nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
Before losing the 2015 elections, former president Mahinda Rajapaksa had firmly opposed any international interference in what he believed was an internal issue.&nbsp; 
A specific office will be in charge to independently investigate each case of the thousands of missing cases, mostly belonging to the Tamil ethnic minority.&nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
The government will issue a certificate of absence which will help relatives, allowing them to temporarily manage properties and assets of missing people, to obtain provisional guardianship of their children and apply for government welfare schemes.&nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
Many relatives have been critic, accusing the government of doing almost nothing to find the missing people as promised in the UN resolution.&nbsp; 
The government will make an oral representation in Geneva later this month to show its progresses in implementing the resolution.&nbsp; 
(Reuters)

Agrees to implement a UN resolution which will help families to manage assets of those missing and obtain guardianship for their children

The new Sri Lankan government acknowledged on Wednesday for the first time that about 65,000 went missing during its 26-year war with the separatist Tamil Tigers. This is being seen as a further step towards reconciliation. President Maithripala Sirisena has agreed to address past human rights violations through independent probes and to implement a resolution by the United Nation Human Rights Council (UNHRC). The UN and rights groups have long urged justice for the families of the missing, including the ones allegedly abducted by state-backed groups and paramilitary outfits. Before losing the 2015 elections, former president Mahinda Rajapaksa had firmly opposed any international interference in what he believed was an internal issue. A specific office will be in charge to independently investigate each case of the thousands of missing cases, mostly belonging to the Tamil ethnic minority. The government will issue a certificate of absence which will help relatives, allowing them to temporarily manage properties and assets of missing people, to obtain provisional guardianship of their children and apply for government welfare schemes. Many relatives have been critic, accusing the government of doing almost nothing to find the missing people as promised in the UN resolution. The government will make an oral representation in Geneva later this month to show its progresses in implementing the resolution. (Reuters)

Sri Lanka declares 65,000 missing during civil war

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