A political impasse in Sri Lanka could be set to drag on longer after President Maithripala Sirisena said on Sunday he would not reinstate Ranil Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister even if he was able to prove his majority in parliament.
“I will not appoint Ranil Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister in my lifetime. Even if they have a majority, I have told them not to propose him as I won’t appoint him as Prime Minister,” Sirisena told foreign media.
He said he replaced Wickremesinghe with former leader Mahinda Rajapaksa because of policy differences and a sharp rise in corruption.
Sirisena said he planned to appoint a commission to investigate corruption and malpractice “under Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s government”.
A former cabinet spokesperson under Wickremesinghe said Sirisena should be ashamed to make these allegations because he was the head of the cabinet under then Prime Minister Wickremesinghe.
“Why didn’t he say this over all those last few years and investigate?” Rajitha Seneratne said.
Sagala Ratnayaka, former minister in charge of police under Wickremesinghe, said: “If President Sirisena’s wild allegations continue, I will be forced to divulge details on who interfered, when, where and how.”
Sri Lanka faces a deepening political crisis with the newly appointed Rajapaksa government refusing to resign despite losing two confidence votes. Sirisena has refused to accept the outcome of the votes saying proper parliamentary procedure has not been followed.
The president said he was ready to appoint anyone from Wickremesinghe’s party as Prime Minister except Wickremesinghe himself and former army chief Sarath Fonseka who was a minister in the ousted cabinet.
“To appoint a Prime Minister, I should also like the person and should be able to work with the person,” Sirisena said.
Sirisena had dissolved parliament and ordered elections to break the deadlock, but the Supreme Court ordered a suspension of that decree earlier this month, as it hears petitions challenging the move as unconstitutional.
