Political war in lanka far from over
Posted on April 6th, 2018

Courtesy Indian Express

Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe defeated a no-confidence motion late on Wednesday by 122 votes to 76, but it widened cracks in the coalition government which will be difficult to plaster over. The no-trust motion was moved by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, whose Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna won 225 out of the 340 directly-elected local councils in the island nation in February. He has since been demanding that the government step down and call early elections, currently scheduled for 2020.

Wickremesinghe’s United National Party (UNP) has 81 MPs in the 225-member Parliament. It heads a coalition of 107 MPs which depends heavily on allies like President Maithripala Sirisena’s Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) to stay in power. Other ruling coalition members include the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, All Ceylon Makkal Congress and the Tamil Progressive Alliance. But the coalition has been plagued by the animosity between the president and the PM.

The UNP and the SLFP fought the February local elections separately, and 13 SLFP members voted against the PM in the no-trust vote. Sirisena has publicly blamed the PM for mismanaging the economy as the country’s growth plummeted to a 16- year low of 3.1 per cent in 2017, increasing unemployment and voter discontent. After a bond scandal at Lanka’s central bank led to accusations that the PM was protecting a former central bank governor suspected of insider trading, Sirisena stripped the finance portfolio from Wickremesinghe.

For India, the return of Rajapaksa would be a cause for concern, since he is seen as close to China, allowing the country to build the Hambantota port and other infrastructure projects in Sri Lanka during his reign, giving Beijing an economic and strategic stranglehold over the island nation. When Wickremesinghe tried to wriggle out of the port project, China called in its dues, forcing him to lease the port to China for 99 years as a debt for equity swap. For the time being, Wickremesinghe has won the battle, but the war is far from over.

4 Responses to “Political war in lanka far from over”

  1. aloy Says:

    Please note that the aim of the group that directed SL’s PM to sell a strategic port to China is to ultimately break up India with the help of China. When millions of Chinese settle in the south and takeover that part of SL, their job will be easier. This will help them to build a formidable power base that existed several centuries ago, in the south of India. Perhaps India is taking a gamble again.

  2. Christie Says:

    Typical Indian story telling.

    This no-confidence motion has no national or international consequences.

    It was a sort of confidence motion and we saw how Indian parasites voted.

    LG polls are a side show and India knows it.

  3. aloy Says:

    Christie,
    If you are trying to convince the readers that the event that took place in Diyawanna has no national consequence then I think I think there is something wrong; perhaps you too are some kind of undercover operative hiding in this forum. It definitely has a huge impact on SL and its people. The traitor is going to rule the country and carryout the agenda of enemies for the next 18 months. They showed their ability to get the whole parliament to dance on their palm. And the enemy also will live in their fantasy world for the same period. Remember they once tried to build subs in SL and other countries thinking of becoming a sea power again. But the super powers will have none of it.

  4. NAK Says:

    Typical south block bulls**t and phony China phobia. Now the Chinese have a better foot hold in SL than when MR was there and the stupid Indians are still trying to sell the same crap about MR.
    The truth is MR was on the correct path to development and the Indians couldn’t stand it. They want to keep all their neighbors impoverished and under their thumb.

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