Sri Lanka: Tamil National Alliance to Back No-Confidence Motion Against Newly Appointed Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa

Colombo, November 4: Tamil National Alliance, a political alliance in Sri Lanka that represents the country's Tamil minority, has decided to back the no-confidence motion brought by the United National Party (UNP)against newly sworn-in Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. In a statement released on Saturday, the TNA said that it will no-trust motion against the newly appointed Prime Minister. The party also said that Rajapaksa’s appointment was a violation of the Constitution’s 19th amendment. As per reports, one TNA legislator, S. Vilenthiriyan, has extended support to Rajapaksa. At least four more legislators out of 16 MPs of the groupare believed to be to joining Rajapaksa’s camp. Sri Lanka Parliament Speaker Recognises Ranil Wickremesinghe as PM

The motion of no-confidence has been brought by ousted Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s UNP. However, President Maithripala Sirisena has suspended Parliament until November 16 and also rejected a call of a floor test for the newly appointed prime minister. Meanwhile, Palitha Range Bandara, a legislator of Wickremesinghe’s party, has claimed that he was offered $2.8 million to extend support to Rajapaksa’s bid to prove his majority.

The Political crisis erupted in the country last month, when Sirisena sacked Wickremesinghe on October 26 and replaced him with Rajapaksa, who was also a former president. Rajapaksha has ruled the nation for nearly 10 years. Sirisena and Rajapaksa combine has only 95 seats and is short of a simple majority. Wickremesinghe's UNP has 106 seats on its own with just seven short of the majority.

(With agency inputs)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 04, 2018 09:46 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).