Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena on Thursday suspended the parliament until May 8, a day after six ministers resigned from the nation’s unity government.
President’s Secretary Austin Fernando told Xinhua that the president had prorogued the parliament until May 8 and an extraordinary gazette notification had been issued by him.
The move comes after six minsters from the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), which is led by President Sirisena, tendered their resignation stating they could not continue work in the unity government.
“We have informed the President that we are leaving the government,” Disaster Management Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa said. The other ministers who have resigned include Sports Minister Dayasiri Jayasekara, Minister of Social Empowerment and Welfare SB Dissanayake, Labour Minister John Seneviratne, Minister of Science, Technology and Research Susil Premajayantha and Minister of Skills Development and Vocational Training Chandima Weerakkody.
Yapa and the five ministers had voted against Wickremesinghe in the last week’s no trust motion brought by former President Mahinda Rajapaska-led JO, following which the UNP members had been demanding their ouster from the government.
The no-confidence motion had been brought against the government by former president, Mahinda Rajapaksa. According to a report by the Indian Express, Wickremesinghe’s government is in a cohabitation “national unity” arrangement with the President Maithripala Sirisena-led United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA). The main constituent of the UPFA is the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), to which Sirisena and Rajapaksa both belong. The party is divided between these two leaders in two rival factions.
The SLFP is a coalition partner in the unity government along with the ruling United National Party which is led by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.
Four new ministers were temporarily appointed to replace the vacant portfolios on Thursday evening but a cabinet re-shuffle is to take place after the local New Year this month, the president’s media division said.
The country’s parliament was last suspended in May 2009.
(With Inputs from Xinhua)
