Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena Sacks Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe Friday Oct 26,2018

 

The surprise sacking of a prime minister; the return of a controversial leader; mass protests; a deadly shooting and warnings of a "bloodbath" - in just a few days, Sri Lanka has plunged into a bitter power struggle that risks undermining stability in the South Asian nation.

The turmoil started on Friday Oct 26,2018 when, in a surprise move, President Maithripala Sirisena sacked Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and replaced him with Mahinda Rajapaksa - a former president he had defeated in a 2015 election - in a hurried ceremony in the capital, Colombo.

Wickremesinghe, who was touring the country's south, returned to the capital immediately, denouncing what he said was an unconstitutional and illegal move by Sirisena.

He insisted he was the lawful prime minister and called for a parliament sitting to prove his majority. Sirisena responded by suspending parliament until November 16, in a move critics said was aimed at shoring up support for Rajapaksa, a popular leader who is credited with ending Sri Lanka's 26-year long civil war, but is also accused of grave human rights abuses and corruption.