Back أزمة سريلانكا الدستورية 2018 Arabic بحران قانون اساسی سریلانکا (۲۰۱۸) Persian Crise constitutionnelle srilankaise de 2018 French २०१८ श्रीलंकाई संवैधानिक संकट Hindi 2018년 스리랑카 헌정위기 Korean Krisis perlembagaan Sri Lanka 2018 Malay Crise constitucional no Sri Lanka em 2018 Portuguese 2018 ශ්‍රී ලංකාවෙහි ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාමය අර්බුදය Singhalese இலங்கை அரசியலமைப்பு நெருக்கடி 2018 Tamil Khủng hoảng hiến pháp Sri Lanka năm 2018 Vietnamese

2018 Sri Lankan constitutional crisis

2018 Sri Lankan constitutional crisis
Part of the aftermath of the Sri Lankan Civil War and the 2015 Sri Lankan presidential election
Maithripala Sirisena
Ranil Wickremesinghe
Mahinda Rajapaksa
Date26 October 2018 – 16 December 2018
(7 weeks and 2 days)
Location
Sri Lanka
Caused by
  • Dissolution of the 2015 National Unity Government
  • Appointment of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa as Prime Minister
  • Sacking of incumbent Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe
  • Suspension and dissolution of Parliament
MethodsDemonstrations, occupations, general strikes
Resulted inRanil Wickremesinghe reappointed as Prime Minister
  • Sudden Dismissal of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe by President
  • Appointment of Mahinda Rajapaksa as Prime Minister by President
  • President Sirisena suspends parliament
  • Wickremesinghe refuses to accept dismissal and is held up at Temple Trees
  • Appointment of a New Cabinet
  • Allegations of bribery for cabinet positions
  • President Sirisena dissolves Parliament and orders Election Commission to hold Parliamentary elections
  • Supreme Court temporarily stays President's proclamation dissolving parliament.
  • Parliament passes motion suspending the Government from spending state money
  • Court of Appeal issues an interim order preventing Rajapaksa from functioning as Prime Minister and all other cabinet ministers in their portfolios
  • Supreme Court finds President's act of dissolving of Parliament to be unconstitutional and illegal and that the President's order of dissolving parliament was overturned
  • Supreme Court confirms the Court of Appeal interim order restricting the functions of the Prime Minister's office
  • Mahinda Rajapaksa backs down from claiming Prime Ministership
  • Ranil Wickremesinghe is reinstated as Prime Minister
Parties
Lead figures
Casualties
Death(s)1[1][2]
Injuries3[1]
Arrested2[2]

A constitutional crisis began in Sri Lanka when President Maithripala Sirisena appointed former president and member of parliament Mahinda Rajapaksa as prime minister on 26 October 2018 before formally dismissing the incumbent Ranil Wickremesinghe, resulting in two concurrent prime ministers. Wickremesinghe and the United National Party (UNP) viewed the appointment as illegal, and he refused to resign.[3]

Sirisena's sudden decision instigated "political turmoil in the country", and drew international criticism.[4][2][5] Wickremesinghe, the majority of the parliament, and opposition parties refused to acknowledge his removal and the appointment of Rajapaksa, stating that Sirisena's move was unconstitutional.[6][7] Wickremesinghe claimed that he still commands a majority in parliament and requested that Speaker of the Parliament Karu Jayasuriya convene parliament immediately.[8] Sirisena ignored all calls to reconvene parliament and on 27 October prorogued parliament, delaying its meeting till 16 November.[9] After an attempt to form a new cabinet of ministers with Rajapaksa as prime minister failed, Sirisena attempted to dissolve parliament on 9 November. The UNP declared the move unconstitutional and subsequently the Supreme Court stayed Sirisena's dissolution until December 2018, when it ruled that the move was unconstitutional and illegal.[10][11] Rajapaksa backed down from claiming the office and Wickremesinghe was once again reinstated, ending the crisis after 7 weeks of political and economic turmoil.

The roots of the crisis date back to the late Rajapaksa presidency. After the end of the Sri Lankan Civil War, Rajapaksa's presidency had become increasingly authoritarian.[1] During his time in office, President Rajapaksa had expanded the power of the presidency significantly and strengthened ties with China.[12] He and his close family have been accused of and are currently under investigation for corruption,[2][13] and the former president has also been accused of war crimes and human rights violations.[14]

The crisis was triggered by a false allegation of an assassination plot against President Sirisena. The crisis lasted seven weeks and had a lasting political and economic impact on the country.[15][16] Due to the fragile Sri Lankan economy the crisis cost the country a billion US dollars in reserves, dropping from $7.991 billion in forex reserves to $6.985 billion.[17] The Sri Lankan rupee ultimately devalued by 3.8% during the same time, while US$312.9 million, in the form of treasury bonds, and US$29.8 million in the form of treasury bills left the country.[17][18] Sri Lanka's credit was also downgraded as a result of the crisis,[19][20] while the United States and Japanese governments froze more than a billion US dollars worth of development aid. November saw industrial activity in Sri Lanka slow as a result of the crisis, falling 3.7% from October to November, the largest seen since it began in 2016.[21]

  1. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference CNN 3110 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b c d "Sri Lanka crisis: Fears of a 'bloodbath' in power struggle". BBC News. 29 October 2018. Archived from the original on 30 October 2018. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  3. ^ Meixler, Eli. "Sri Lankan Strongman's Return Sparks 'Constitutional Crisis'". Time. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  4. ^ Aneez, Shihar. "Sri Lanka PM, 44 ex-MPs defect from party led by president ahead of election". Channel NewsAsia. Archived from the original on 14 November 2018. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
  5. ^ Rasheed, Zaheena. "Sri Lanka president sacks Prime Minister, appoints Rajapaksa". Al Jazeera. Archived from the original on 31 October 2018. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  6. ^ "The tale of two Prime Ministers". The Sunday Times Sri Lanka. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Aljazeera20181213 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ "Sri Lanka President sacks PM, plunges country into crisis". 26 October 2018. Archived from the original on 28 October 2018. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
  9. ^ "Parliament prorogued". Archived from the original on 28 October 2018. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
  10. ^ "Sunday Times – UNP to challenge President's gazette to dissolve Parliament on Monday". sundaytimes.lk. Archived from the original on 10 November 2018. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference sc stays was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Staniland, Paul (4 January 2019). "The Future of Democracy in South Asia". Foreign Affairs. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  13. ^ "India scrambles to claw back ground in Sri Lanka after pro-China leader named PM". t.lk. Wijeya Newspapers Ltd. Archived from the original on 30 October 2018. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference BBC 2610 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference Reuters 270219 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ Cite error: The named reference Washington Post 270219 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  17. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference economynext 100119 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  18. ^ "Govt. to obtain USD 1.9bn to stabilise rupee: PM". www.dailymirror.lk. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  19. ^ "Moody's downgrades Sri Lanka's ratings to B2, changes outlook to stable from negative". Moodys.com. 20 November 2018. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  20. ^ "Moody's downgrades SL's ratings, changes outlook to negative". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  21. ^ "Industrial production in Sri Lanka slows amid political crisis in Nov". www.economynext.com. Archived from the original on 15 January 2019. Retrieved 15 January 2019.

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