Colombo: Angry protestors overran Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s office demanding his resignation Wednesday, after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa made a dramatic exit from the country in the wee hours of the day and Wickremesinghe was named ‘acting President’.
Rajapaksa’s formal letter of resignation is yet to come and he is expected to resign at 8 pm Wednesday.
The political mayhem heightened Wednesday afternoon after Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, Speaker of Sri Lanka’s Parliament, announced in a press conference that Wickremesinghe had been appointed ‘acting President’ by Rajapaksa.
Hours later, the Speaker said that the President would send his resignation sometime during the course of Wednesday, and the Sri Lankan Parliament would elect a new President on 20 July, as planned.
While the ‘acting President’ has declared a state of emergency in Sri Lanka, sources have meanwhile told ThePrint that Rajapaksa is currently staying at a hotel near the international airport in the capital of the Maldives, Male.
It is unclear when he “appointed” Wickremesinghe ‘acting President’.
Leaders of the protests against Rajapaksa have warned that Wickremesinghe’s appointment could trigger fresh outrage. Police and security forces have been deployed outside Wickremesinghe’s office.
One of the protestors told ThePrint, “we need someone who could truly represent people’s need to come to power. Not an old fox like Ranil, to take this opportunity for his own benefit.”
Sajith Premadasa, leader of the opposition, tweeted that the prime minister can only exercise the powers of the President if the President appoints him, or if the office of President is vacant, or if the Chief Justice in consultation with the Speaker decides that the President is unable to act.
PM becomes acting President only if the President appoints him as such, or if the office of President is vacant, or if the CJ in consultation with the Speaker forms the view that the President is unable to act.
— Sajith Premadasa (@sajithpremadasa) July 13, 2022
Rehan Jayawickreme, a youth leader of the Premadasa-led Samagi Jana Balawegaya — Srilanka’s largest opposition party — told ThePrint his party “wants the President and the prime minister to resign concurrently. Both of them have lost their mandate,” he said.
Also read: The People vs the Rajapaksas in Sri Lanka and why it turned out this way
Confusion over constitutionality
There are several ways in which the PM may take on the role of President, which adds to the confusion over the constitutionality of Wickremesinghe being appointed “acting president”.
Under Article 37(1) of the Sri Lankan Constitution, Presidents may appoint prime ministers to “discharge the powers, duties and functions of the office of President” if they are absent, ill, or unable to perform their duties. The President remains in office until he formally tenders his resignation, but Rajapaksa is currently absent from the island nation — thereby allowing Wickremesinghe to act in his stead.
However, if the President — normally elected directly by the people in a nationwide election for a five-year term — resigns, a separate process is triggered under Article 40 of the Constitution. The prime minister can then be interim president for a maximum of 30 days. During this time, Parliament must elect a new President for the remainder of the term of the previous President.
The Speaker’s two announcements Wednesday — the first that Rajapaksa had appointed Wickremseinghe acting president, and the second confirming Rajapaksa’s expected resignation — have caused confusion over the scope of Wickremesinghe’s powers.
“The whole point of this government is not to communicate clearly, because it’s a government of bad faith,” said constitutional lawyer Gehan Gunatilleke, who has also written about the constitutional aftermath of a presidential resignation.
He added: “We have leaders trying to preserve their positions, and communicating clearly and transparently impedes that agenda.”
Meanwhile, a source close to the Speaker said, “Today will be a busy day. There is a large legal team working out the details of what should happen next, based on the law and the Constitution.”
Unclear political roadmap
Parliamentarians are unsure of how to proceed as Rajapaksa continues to stay in office despite promises to resign, while being outside the country.
Mano Ganesan, leader of the Tamil Progressive Alliance — a political alliance that represents Indian Tamils living outside the Northern and Eastern provinces — told ThePrint that an all-party meeting of leaders, chaired by the Speaker, had met a potential road-map for political transition.
He also asked Wickremesinghe to resign in a tweet.
I call upon the prime minister @RW_UNP to resign immediately, and stop provacating the masses, therefore the crisis is defused, Mr. Wickramasinghe can contest, if he wishes, for presidency inside parliament on July 20th, paving way for peaceful & democratic transition #lka pic.twitter.com/mWc2j0QMhf
— Mano Ganesan (@ManoGanesan) July 13, 2022
If the President formally resigns Wednesday, Parliament will convene Friday. Presidential nominations will then be submitted in Parliament on 19 July, with MPs voting on 20 July. The Constitution mandates that the new President serve only for the remainder of the previous President’s term, which in this case ends in 2024.
“The country is very close to taking the most important steps to solve the political crisis with the resignation of the President. Even though he hasn’t formally resigned, he has indicated that he is willing to do so,” said Shanakiyan Rasamanickam, an MP from Batticaloa.
“However, we are facing an issue with the prime minister. At least the President was elected by 6.9 million people, but the PM was not elected to Parliament. If the PM doesn’t resign, he will become acting president and we don’t want this PM to be President even for a minute,” he added.
Protests in Sri Lanka
Meanwhile, flag-wielding protesters stormed Wickremesinghe’s office Wednesday afternoon. Visuals emerged online of Sri Lankan police attempting to quell the agitation by firing tear gas at protesters.
The breach of the PM’s office comes days after protesters had stormed President Rajapaksa’s official residence and were seen swimming in his luxury pool and lounging inside the premises. The protestors had also set Wickremesinghe’s house on fire.
Sri Lankans have been taking to the streets since April, to protest against the Rajapaksa government for mishandling the country’s economic crisis.
“The protest movement first expects an interim government. Right now, we cannot predict who will be a good leader. It definitely cannot be Ranil Wickremesinghe or a Rajapaksa,” Dilan Senanayake, convener of the People’s Protest Movement, told ThePrint.
With inputs from Vandana Menon and Pia Krishnankutty in Delhi and Sowmiya Ashok in Chennai.
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
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Source: The Print
