Colombo, Dec 12 (newsin.asia) – Sri Lanka’s Parliament, on Wednesday passed a vote of confidence on ousted Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe with 117 lawmakers in the 225 member Parliament voting in favor of it.
The vote was taken as Mahinda Rajapaksa and parliamentarians loyal to him boycotted sessions for the third consecutive week, alleging that Speaker of Parliament, Karu Jayasuriya was acting biased in favor of Wickremesinghe and his United National Party.
Following the vote, Wickremesinghe thanked all Parliamentarians who voted for him and promised to protect democracy in the island.
Rajapaksa loyalists, however called the vote invalid alleging Mahinda Rajapaksa was appointed as the Prime Minister and there was a government in place as the Court of Appeal had only temporarily suspended the government from conducting its duties.
Meanwhile Speaker Karu Jayasuriya has informed President Maithripala Sirisena on the results of the confidence motion, the Speaker’s office said.
Sri Lanka has been embroiled in a severe political turmoil, when on Oct 26, President Sirisena surprisingly sacked his cabinet and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe and appointed former president Rajapaksa to the post and appointed a new caretaker government.
The UNP have alleged that the appointment was unconstitutional and Wickremesinghe held the majority in Parliament.