Sri Lankan MPs fight in parliament as power struggle deepens

Sri Lankan MPs have brawled on the floor of parliament, putting one in hospital, in the latest escalation of the political turmoil that has left the country without an agreed prime minister or cabinet.

The session on Thursday morning was abandoned after supporters of Mahinda Rajapaksa, the disputed prime minister, rushed at the parliament’s speaker, Karu Jayasuriya.

Jayasuriya was defended by MPs loyal to Ranil Wickremesinghe, who was dismissed from the prime ministership a fortnight ago and replaced with Rajapaksa in what Wickremesinghe’s supporters say was a political coup.

The men, most dressed in white cotton robes, pushed and jostled each other. Some could be seen throwing punches and one MP hurled a wastepaper basket in the speaker’s direction, according to The Guardian.

Dilum Amunugama, a Rajapaksa loyalist, was cut as he tried to take the speaker’s microphone, bloodying his shirt, and was later admitted to hospital.

The speaker, Rajapaksa and Wickremesinghe all eventually left the chamber as the fighting continued.

Harsha de Silva, an MP from Wickremesinghe’s United National party, said the violence was “the most shameful day in parliament”.

On Wednesday MPs had passed a no-confidence motion in Rajapaksa, who was hastily installed in office last month by the president, Maithripala Sirisena.

Sirisena had fallen out with Wickremesinghe but has been unable to summon enough votes in parliament to formally oust his former coalition partner. Instead he has sought to force him out by dissolving parliament and declaring an election – a move that was temporarily halted by the supreme court this week.

Sirisena said on Wednesday night he had refused to accept that day’s no-confidence vote, leaving a power vacuum.

“According to the no-confidence vote held yesterday, there is no prime minister or cabinet of ministers as of now as all those posts are invalidated by the vote,” Jayasuriya told parliament.

In a speech in parliament on Thursday morning, amid jeers and shouts of support, Rajapaksa said he had stepped into the prime ministership to rescue the country from Wickremesinghe’s poor and corrupt leadership, not out of a hunger for power.

“Even though the prime ministership and the presidency is a big deal to you, it’s not for me,” he told his opponents.

“When the president hands the country over to us in order to prevent a major catastrophe from taking place, it is our duty to accept that responsibility. I suggest that we take this matter before the 15 million-plus voters in the country instead of trying to resolve it among the 225 persons sitting in this house.”

After the speech, the speaker attempted to hold a vote for MPs to endorse or reject the remarks, but was unable to do so after MPs loyal to Rajapaksa rushed to approach his chair, were resisted by Wickremesinghe’s supporters, and the fighting broke out.

Thousands of supporters of Wickremesinghe’s United National party rallied in Colombo’s Lipton Square on Thursday afternoon. They carried signs reading “abolish the executive presidency” and “chase away the rogue cabinet”.

A brass band played a sombre funeral march behind a crowd carrying two red coffins, one of for Rajapaksa and the other for Sirisena.

Wickremesinghe told the crowd: “Take this message to your villages. We will take this fight for democracy to every village.”

Around the same time, Rajapaksa announced he was lowering the cost of fuel by 5c per litre from midnight – both an assertion of his disputed power and an attempt to rally support around his leadership.

Parliament was adjourned until Friday afternoon.