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News > World

Sri Lanka's Unrecognized PM Resigns to Avoid Gov't Shutdown

  • Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa is accused of crimes against humanity for his role in Sri Lanka's civil war.

    Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa is accused of crimes against humanity for his role in Sri Lanka's civil war. | Photo: Reuters

Published 15 December 2018
Opinion

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned Saturday, vowing to bring the opposition to "its knees" by organizing the people.

Sri Lanka's embattled Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned Saturday, only a month and a half after taking office to prevent an imminent government shutdown.

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The South Asian island has been in political limbo since President Maithripala Sirisena in late October replaced former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe with Rajapaksa, who was then twice sacked by parliament but had refused to resign.

As a government shutdown loomed, Rajapaksa put in his papers and said in a statement Saturday that the change of government "the people expected" has now been put off.

"I have no intention of remaining as prime minister without a general election being held, and in order to not hamper the president in any way, I will resign from the position of prime minister and make way for the president to form a new government," Rajapaksa said.

He emphasized the need for an election to resolve the country's economic and political crisis and said the main challenge now was to form a government. He also spoke against what he described as the "destructive forces" of people seeking to restore their former offices.

"We will bring the forces opposed to the country down to their knees by organizing the people," Rajapaksa said.

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Wickremesinghe's office said Friday that Sirisena had called the former prime minister by telephone to invite him to be sworn back into office on Sunday. Sirisena had previously said he would not appoint Wickremesinghe "even if he has the backing of all 225 lawmakers in parliament."

The country's parliament had voted to cut the budget for Rajapaksa and his ministers after Sirisena had refused to accept no-confidence votes against Rajapaksa. Sirisena's decision to replace former PM Wickremesinghe with Rajapaksa was seen by legislators as a non-violent coup d'etat.

It remains unclear how Sirisena plans to end the political crisis that threatens to shut down the government on Jan. 1, by which time a temporary budget must be approved by parliament.

On Friday, the country's Supreme Court rejected Rajapaksa's bid for an injunction on a lower court's order that barred him and his cabinet from carrying out their roles in government.

Many foreign countries have refused to recognize Rajapaksa's government. 

Rajapaksa presided over a government victory against Tamil rebels in 2009, ending a bloody 26-year civil war. He has been accused of war crimes by international rights groups, and the United Nations has asked for a thorough investigation into alleged human rights violations.

Earlier this week, the island nation's parliament passed a vote of confidence in favor of Wickremesinghe, as it sought his reinstatement as prime minister.

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