{"id":2193,"date":"2018-11-20T11:03:16","date_gmt":"2018-11-20T05:33:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/?p=2193"},"modified":"2018-11-20T11:03:16","modified_gmt":"2018-11-20T05:33:16","slug":"sri-lanka-political-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/sri-lanka-political-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"Sri Lanka political crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_68 ez-toc-wrap-center counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-light-blue ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title \" >What's Inside this Blog!<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/sri-lanka-political-crisis\/#Relevant_for_General_Studies_Paper_2_3\" title=\"Relevant for General Studies Paper 2 &amp; 3:-\">Relevant for General Studies Paper 2 &amp; 3:-<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/sri-lanka-political-crisis\/#How_did_it_come_about\" title=\"How did it come about?\">How did it come about?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/sri-lanka-political-crisis\/#Why_does_it_matter\" title=\"Why does it matter?\">Why does it matter?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/sri-lanka-political-crisis\/#What_lies_ahead\" title=\"What lies ahead?\">What lies ahead?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Relevant_for_General_Studies_Paper_2_3\"><\/span>Relevant for General Studies Paper 2 &amp; 3:-<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Late on November 9, President\u00a0<a title=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/international\/sri-lanka-power-struggle-president-sirisena-dissolves-parliament\/article25457395.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Maithripala Sirisena dissolved the Sri Lankan Parliament<\/a>\u00a0and called a snap general election for January 5. The announcement came within hours of his party spokesman publicly admitting to lacking a majority in Parliament. Mr. Sirisena\u2019s front was aiming for a majority to push its controversially installed Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa through the legislature.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_did_it_come_about\"><\/span>How did it come about?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Sri Lanka has been facing a political crisis for a fortnight now, with Mr. Sirisena\u00a0<a title=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/international\/sri-lanka-unity-govt-falls-rajapaksa-sworn-in-as-pm\/article25338519.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">abruptly sacking his Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe<\/a>\u00a0and replacing him with Mr. Rajapaksa, a former President, apparently defying the Constitution or more specifically, its\u00a0<a title=\"\" href=\"http:\/\/www.parliament.lk\/files\/pdf\/constitution.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">19th Amendment<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 a 2015 legislation that clipped the powers of the President significantly.<\/li>\n<li>Resisting Mr. Sirisena\u2019s move, Mr. Wickremesinghe maintained that he was the legitimate Prime Minister and challenged Mr. Rajapaksa to a vote in Parliament to test their claims to majority. Mr. Sirisena had earlier\u00a0<a title=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/international\/sri-lanka-government-president-sirisena-prorogues-parliament\/article25344794.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">suspended Parliament<\/a>until November 16, possibly to muster strength for his front, but summoned the House for November 14, amid growing pressure.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_does_it_matter\"><\/span>Why does it matter?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Both decisions of Mr. Sirisena \u2014 sacking Mr. Wickremesinghe and dissolving Parliament \u2014 have raised serious questions about constitutional validity. As for the dismissal of Mr. Wickremesinghe, the 19th Amendment removed the President\u2019s authority to arbitrarily sack his Prime Minister. Under the Constitution, the Prime Minister\u2019s office does not fall vacant unless in circumstances of his death, voluntary resignation or loss of majority in a crucial vote in Parliament. Since none of these is true in the current situation, a new appointment by the President is constitutionally ruled out. Some lawyers point to a discrepancy between the English and Sinhala texts of the Constitution and claim the President, as per the Sinhala version, still has the power to remove a Prime Minister. Other constitutional lawyers have argued that while there is a discrepancy in language and framing, the import and essence of the Sinhala text is consistent with that in English, especially when read along with the rest of the Constitution in Sinhala. On the dissolution of Parliament, the President does not have the powers to dissolve Parliament within four-and-a-half years of its convening, unless requested by two-thirds of its members, as per the 19th Amendment. The President\u2019s side has invoked Article 33(2) C that lists the powers to summon, prorogue and dissolve Parliament, in addition to his existing powers. All the same, critics have noted that while the Article is a general enumeration of his powers, it is the 19th Amendment\u2019s specific provision that must prevail in such a situation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_lies_ahead\"><\/span>What lies ahead?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The political flux over the past two weeks was the culmination of a bitter power struggle between Mr. Sirisena and Mr. Wickremesinghe within the ruling coalition. The two leaders, from traditionally rival parties and with incompatible ideologies, had\u00a0<a title=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/opinion\/interview\/Solving-problems-of-Tamils-is-my-obligation-Sirisena\/article16442765.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">joined hands to form the government<\/a>\u00a0in 2015, ousting Mr. Rajapaksa. In about three-and-a-half years,\u00a0<a title=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/international\/fall-of-sri-lanka-unity-govt-behind-the-dramatic-turn-of-events\/article25343618.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">they fell apart<\/a>. Amid the pressure of a\u00a0<a title=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/international\/rajapaksa-backed-party-wins-big-in-sri-lanka-local-government-polls\/article22723629.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Rajapaksa comeback<\/a>\u00a0, Mr. Sirisena chose to side with him.<\/li>\n<li>The conduct of elections will depend on the Election Commission\u2019s position on the development and possible legal hurdles, since Mr. Wickremesinghe\u2019s United National Party (UNP) has vowed to move the Supreme Court on the \u201cillegal\u201d dissolution of Parliament. From the time the 19th Amendment capped the Presidency at two terms, Mr. Rajapaksa has been eager to return as Prime Minister. But he is now with Mr. Sirisena, who brings with him at least part of his unpopular coalition government\u2019s incumbency. Mr. Wickremesinghe, on the other hand, is faced with a dual challenge \u2014 some within his party have been demanding a new leader for some time, while those backing him are aware of his falling political stock amid a growing economic crisis.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Relevant for General Studies Paper 2 &amp; 3:- Late on November 9, President\u00a0Maithripala Sirisena dissolved the Sri Lankan Parliament\u00a0and called<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":882,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[842,392],"class_list":["post-2193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-studies-ii","tag-applied-sociology","tag-union-public-service-commission-upsc"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2193"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2193\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2194,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2193\/revisions\/2194"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/882"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}