Sri Lanka’s Parliament on Tuesday defied President Maithripala Sirisena and resumed investigations into security lapses surrounding the Easter suicide bombings that killed 258 people, officials said, as a political crisis in the country deepened. The Opposition Sri Lanka People’s Front said the standoff between the President and the Cabinet, controlled by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s party, meant the government was at a standstill. “The current standoff effectively means that there is no government in Sri Lanka from today,” Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLPF) leader Gamini Lakshman Peiris told reporters in Colombo. There was no immediate word either from the President or the Prime Minister on why the scheduled cabinet meeting was not held. Mr. Sirisena had opposed public questioning of military, police and intelligence officials, saying it would compromise national security.

Source: The Hindu June 11, 2019 15:56 UTC