{"id":2486,"date":"2018-11-16T15:02:05","date_gmt":"2018-11-16T15:02:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/?p=2486"},"modified":"2018-11-16T15:02:05","modified_gmt":"2018-11-16T15:02:05","slug":"sri-lanka-mps-hurl-chilli-powder-and-chairs-in-fresh-chaos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/2018\/11\/16\/sri-lanka-mps-hurl-chilli-powder-and-chairs-in-fresh-chaos\/","title":{"rendered":"Sri Lanka MPs hurl ‘chilli powder’ and chairs in fresh chaos"},"content":{"rendered":"

Legislators allied to disputed PM Rajapaksa fight with rivals in second day of clashes<\/p>\n

Sri Lanka\u2019s\u00a0parliament has been disrupted for a second day<\/a>, with legislators allied to the disputed prime minister, Mahinda Rajapaksa, hurling chairs at police officers and allegedly throwing chilli powder at opposing MPs.<\/p>\n

It was the latest violent incident in the crisis that erupted three weeks ago, when the president, Maithripala Sirisena, suddenly announced he had sacked the prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and installed Rajapaksa in his place.<\/p>\n

Despite the violence, the pro-Rajapaksa MPs failed to prevent the assembly from passing a no-confidence motion in his leadership, dismissing his government for the second time this week.<\/p>\n

Unlike the previous vote, however, Friday\u2019s motion omitted any reference to misconduct on the part of Sirisena. The change indicates the president could recognise the motion this time and agree to terminate Rajapaksa\u2019s leadership.<\/p>\n

Rajapaksa\u2019s forces have already said they will reject Friday\u2019s vote. \u201cWe say Mahinda Rajapaksa heads the government,\u201d said Dinesh Gunawardena, a Rajapaksa ally. \u201cWe shall agitate for elections. The country is in anarchy. The parliament is in anarchy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Security was heavy in parliament on Friday after the previous day\u2019s session had to be abandoned when MPs scuffled inside the chamber, requiring one to be hospitalised. One MP, Palitha Thewarapperuma of the United National party, was seen wielding a knife in Thursday\u2019s fray.<\/p>\n

Before the session could start, MPs allied to Rajapaksa surrounded the Speaker\u2019s ceremonial chair, shouting protests at the use of knives in Thursday\u2019s brawl.<\/p>\n

More than two dozen police officers entered the chamber with their arms linked, trying to escort the Speaker, Karu Jayasuriya, inside along with parliamentary officials in white coats carrying a ceremonial mace.<\/p>\n

Advised not to enter the chamber by his security staff, Jayasuriya, 78, responded: \u201cI will enter the chamber for the future generations of Sri Lanka\u201d, a witness to the scene told the Guardian.<\/p>\n

As Rajapaksa watched from his chair, his MPs attacked the officers with chairs and books, injuring up to 11. Other legislators tipped the Speaker\u2019s ceremonial chair to the floor and dragged it across the ground.<\/p>\n

Taking refuge on a side bench and surrounded by officers, Jayasuriya called for a voice vote on the no-confidence motion in Rajapaksa. A roar erupted across the chamber and the Speaker declared the vote carried by a majority.<\/p>\n

Jayasuriya must now formally communicate the result to Sirisena, which he is expected to do later on Friday.<\/p>\n

Outside the chamber, MPs Gamini Jayawickrama Perera and Vijitha Herath could be seen rubbing their eyes, with splotches of chilli splattered across their robes.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThey have behaved as beasts, not as human beings,\u201d Herath told reporters outside the chamber.<\/p>\n

He wore a large bandage across his forehead, saying he was injured when an opposing lawmaker lobbed a copy of the Sri Lankan constitution at his head.<\/p>\n

If recognised by Sirisena, who ultimately commands the country\u2019s armed forces and police, Friday\u2019s no-confidence motion would leave the country without a prime minister.<\/p>\n

According to the constitution, Sirisena will need to name a prime minister who he believes can command a majority of parliament\u2019s vote. Wickremesinghe would have the numbers, but the acrimony between he and Sirisena \u2013 one of the key factors in sparking the crisis \u2013 makes it doubtful he would be chosen.<\/p>\n

Also uncertain is how Rajapaksa and his supporters will respond to the result. He tweeted after the vote: \u201cThe Speaker\u2019s ad-hoc decisions are the main reason for today\u2019s situation in parliament. The need is to go for a election and lead the way to a stable parliament.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wickremesinghe told a press conference on Friday evening it was \u201ca black chapter in our history\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been there when a bomb was thrown \u2026 but this is the deliberate breaking up of parliament by a group of people claiming to be the government,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday Sri Lankans have again seen deplorable behaviour by some MPs, unbecoming of them and of their noble institution,\u201d the British High Commissioner to\u00a0Sri Lanka<\/a>, James Dauris, wrote on Twitter. \u201cNo parliament can perform its role when its own members stop it from doing so.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Legislators allied to disputed PM Rajapaksa fight with rivals in second day of clashes Sri Lanka\u2019s\u00a0parliament has been disrupted for a second day, with legislators allied to the disputed prime minister, Mahinda Rajapaksa, hurling chairs at police officers and allegedly throwing chilli powder at opposing MPs. It was the latest violent incident in the crisis that erupted three weeks ago,… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":77,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[35],"class_list":["post-2486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article-post","tag-the-guardian"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/77"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2486"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2486\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2487,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2486\/revisions\/2487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}