Setback for Sirisena as Sri Lanka Parliament passes no-confidence vote against Rajapakse govt

The floor-test comes a day after the Supreme Court on Tuesday overturned Sirisena's controversial decision to dissolve Parliament and halted the preparations for snap polls on January 5.

Sri Lanka's former president and newly appointed prime minister Mahinda Rajapakse (L) speaks with President Maithripala Sirisena at a rally in Colombo on November 5, 2018. - Thousands of supporters of former Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapakse headed for the capital on November 5 to rally in support of his controversial nomination as prime minister, as the island's constitutional crisis deepened. (Photo by LAKRUWAN WANNIARACHCHI / AFP)

New Delhi: In a huge setback to Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena, the Parliament of Sri Lanka voted against the Mahinda Rajapakse led government on Wednesday in a floor-test which comes a day after the Supreme Court on Tuesday overturned Sirisena's controversial decision to dissolve Parliament and halted the preparations for snap polls on January 5.“Lanka parliament votes against Rajapakse government in landmark vote”, said news agency AFP, as the Lankan Parliament on Wednesday passed a no-confidence motion against the government headed by Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was controversially appointed by Sirisena as a replacement to the sacked Wickremesinghe. The Parliament on Wednesday met for the first time since October 26, when President Sirisena suspended the Parliament following the sacking of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. The island nation was then pushed into a deep constitutional crisis drawing worldwide concern including that of the United States and the United Nations. As the legislators voted against the government, the Speaker of the Parliament Karu Jayasuriya announced that majority of the 225-member assembly supported the no-confidence motion. "According to the voice, I recognise that the government has no majority," Jayasuriya announced in the House as Rajapaksa supporters protested. He gave the ruling after the no-confidence motion was taken for a vote. The Speaker calculated the votes based on the voices he heard as Rajapaksa supporters disrupted the proceedings. Jayasuriya later adjourned the House until 10 am Thursday. On Tuesday, the apex court had said Sirisena's dissolution of Parliament will be suspended until December 7 and it will consider all the petitions filed on the President's decision next month before giving a final ruling. After the court verdict, Speaker Jayasuriya summoned Parliament's session for Wednesday morning. The key political parties of Sri Lanka had on Monday moved the Supreme Court of the country against Sirisena who further escalated the country’s Constitutional crisis by dissolving Parliament on Friday and calling for a snap parliamentary election on January 5, just weeks after sacking PM Ranil Wickremsinghe and installing Mahinda Rajapakse as his replacement. The parties in their petition said that Sirisena did not have Constitutional powers to dissolve the Parliament and requested the court to issue an order to nullify the gazette issued by him and to suspend the upcoming parliamentary elections until a verdict was announced in the mater.