Ranil Wickremesinghe, whose shock dismissal in late October threw Sri Lanka into constitutional crisis, was sworn in at a closed-door ceremony in the president’s office in Colombo. The ousted premier had long asserted his dismissal was illegal, a view supported by Sri Lanka’s parliament which six times voted against Rajapakse’s claim to rule during tumultuous sessions that erupted into brawls. “We thank the citizens of the country who fought the illegal seizure of power and ensured that democracy was restored,” his United National Party of Sri Lanka posted on Twitter. The strongman, whose past administrations were accused of gross rights abuses and whose family still holds considerable sway in Sri Lanka, promised to make a comeback at local council elections. Some factions within Sri Lanka’s parliament have pushed for Sirisena to be investigated for orchestrating an alleged coup.

Source: Egypt Independent December 16, 2018 07:41 UTC