It was a day of high-powered arguments and discussions inside the court hall on Tuesday, as the public and cadres of the ruling UNP, SLFP and former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s newly formed SLPP waited with bated breath outside the beautiful Supreme Court campus in Colombo. The security at the court campus was beefed up with a battalion of police force and armed men. Fire crackers went up the air when the court overruled President Maithiripala Sirisena’s move to dissolve parliament and snap polls on January 5, 2019.
Hours after the judgment, as rumours about Mahinda’s resignation started spreading among the political circles in Sri Lanka, both ousted Prime Minister’s United National Party (UNP) and Mahinda Rajapaksa’s newly formed Sri Lanka Podujana Party (SLPP) swung into action. Both prime minister’s residence at Temple Trees and prime minister’s office on the Flower Road in Colombo were bustling with action.
While Ranil Wickremesinghe said the speaker would reconvene the parliament as scheduled on Wednesday, SLPP MP and Mahinda’s son, Namal Rajapaksa, said their party leaders will “attend the parliament.”
“The Supreme Court has issued an interim order on the dissolution of the parliament till early December. This is not the court’s final decision. I have never seen politicians so excited for postponing elections,” Namal said. Meeting the media, his party seniors, including sports minister Faiszer Musthapha endorsed Namal's views saying, “This is an interim order. Mahinda continues to be the prime minister.”
On the other, Wickremesinghe said the parliament will reconvene on Wednesday. “I will go to parliament tomorrow and we will show we are the legitimate government of Sri Lanka. The court ruling is a victory for the people and a victory for decent politics in this country,” he said.
The court’s interim stay to the gazette dissolving the parliament and snap polls on January 5, has led to yet another round of chaos in the already perplexed Sri Lankan political crisis. The stay, overruling Sirisena’s dissolution of parliament, though has come down as a major boost to sacked Prime Minister Wickremesinghe’s fight to reclaim the post from his arch-rival. The Rajapaksa camp, too, is firm on continuing in the office.
It all began on October 26, when Sirisena, in a dramatic move, replaced Wickremesinghe with Rajapaksa as the prime minister. In yet another shocking move, Sirisena dissolved the parliament which was challenged in the Supreme Court by the Tamil parties, Muslim parties and others. There were at least 12 petitions filed by the Supreme Court in Colombo.
The 225-member parliament could meet as early as Wednesday to decide which of the dueling pair it backs.