Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who was sacked by the countrys President Maithripala Sirisena, won a confidence vote in Parliament on Wednesday.
Wickremesinghe received 117 votes in the 225-member legislative body. The result is expected to increase pressure on President Sirisena to reappoint Wickremesinghe as the prime minister.
However, it seems unlikely that the trust vote will help in allaying Sri Lankas political crisis. Sirisena has declared that he would not appoint Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister, even if all 225 legislators backed him.
Today is a historic and monumental day in our political history as democracy triumphs over tyranny. A day when dictatorship will be defeated and overcome by democracy, said lawmaker Sajith Premadasa, who presented the motion to the parliament. He urged the president to respect the parliaments decision and reappoint Wickremesinghe.
I consider this as an important step toward defeating the unconstitutional steps taken from 26 October, Wickremesinghe told the parliament after Wednesdays vote.
Wickremesinghes abrupt sacking in October resulted in a bitter political bickering and a series of complex court battles.
What led to the crisis?
In October, President Maithripala Sirisena sacked Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and replaced him with Mahinda Rajapaksa a former president whom Wickremesinghe had defeated in 2015 election. Sirisena appointed the new prime minister in a hushed ceremony in Sri Lankas capital, Colombo.
Though Rajapaksa has been a popular leader credited for ending Sri Lanka’s 26-year long civil war, he has also been accused of human rights abuses and corruption.
Wickremesinghe, who was touring the countrys south, returned to the capital immediately, and rejected the move, calling it an unconstitutional and illegal step. Wickremesinghe insisted that he was the lawful prime minister and called for a parliament sitting to prove his majority.
Sri Lanka Speaker calls for floor test
Early in November, Sri Lankan Speaker Karu Jayasuriya said he wanted a floor test in parliament to resolve the issue of two prime ministers in the country.
The Speakers remarks came two days after he criticised President Maithripala Sirisena, saying it was anti-democratic to sack Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and suspend the parliament. Jayasuriya asserted that he would not recognise Rajapaksa as Sri Lankas prime minister unless it was proven by a floor test.
Sirisena calls for snap elections
Media reports on November 10 stated that President Sirisena had announced snap polls on January 5 after it became evident that he would not have majority in the House for Rajapaksa to become prime minister.
As per reports, Sirisena signed a gazette notification dissolving the nation’s parliament. According to the gazette notice, nominations to contest the snap election would be taken between November 19 and 26. The election would be held on January 5 and the new parliament would be convened on January 17.
Sri Lankas Supreme Court, however, stayed Sirisenas order to dissolve the parliament. The court also put a hold on plans of conducting snap polls in January. The Supreme Court also issued an interim order that ruled Sirisenas gazette notification as temporarily illegal.
Dissolution of parliament is unconstitutional: Supreme Court
Recent reports on Thursday, December 13, mentioned that Sri Lankas Supreme Court ruled that the dissolution of parliament by Sirisena was unconstitutional.
A seven-member bench said that Sirisena cannot dissolve parliament till it completes its full four and a half year term, as per a report in the Colombo Gazette.
Chief Justice Nalin Perera said that even if Sirisena wants to dissolve parliament before its term could end, he will have to seek a resolution passed by 2/3rds majority in parliament.
As many as 13 petitions were filed against Sirisenas previous order suspending the parliament, almost 20 months before its term was to end.
What next?
The current political upheaval has led to critical questions on the future of a new Constitution that is reportedly being drafted. If Rajapaksa manages to make a comeback, it could result in old fears of heightened military surveillance and post-war intimidation that his regime has been accused of.
After his victory, in which the opposition Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) abstained, Mr Wickremesinghe pledged to strengthen the countrys provincial councils. The Prime Minister also vowed to do away with the Executive Presidency, a demand that the JVP has been pushing for some time.
Elton Gomes is a staff writer at Qrius