Sri Lankan President says PM was sacked over assassination plot

Sri Lanka’s president said on Sunday that the main reason behind his decision to sack his prime minister was the alleged involvement of a cabinet minister in a plot to assassinate him.

President Maithripala Sirisena said a person questioned by investigators had revealed the name of a minister in an alleged plot to assassinate him and a former defence secretary.

He said the only choice for him under the circumstances was to dismiss Ranil Wickremesinghe and invite his former nemesis and ex-strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa to take over as prime minister and form a new government.

“This information contains a number of details hitherto hidden to the people,” Sirisena said.

“The informant has made a statement regarding a cabinet minister involved in the conspiracy to assassinate me,” he said without revealing the name of the minister.

Sunday was the first time Sirisena had commented publicly on an alleged plot of assassinating him even though his supporters had been talking about it for weeks.

A police informant named Namal Kumara who first came out with the alleged assassination plot told reporters on Sunday that Wickremesinghe and his cabinet colleague former army commander Sarath Fonseka were behind the assassination plot.

There was no immediate comment from Wickremesinghe or Fonseka on the allegation.

Meanwhile, one person died and two others were wounded on Sunday in a shooting at the Petroleum Ministry, in the first violent incident since the political turmoil began on Friday with the sacking of Wickremesinghe.

The speaker of Parliament urged Sirisena to safeguard Wickremesinghe’s rights.

Speaker Karu Jayasuriya said in a letter to Sirisena on Sunday that the continued suspension of Parliament would have “serious and undesirable consequences”. Opposition lawmakers, supporting the new prime minister, asked Wickremesinghe to vacate his official residence or face a forcible eviction.

Hundreds of Wickremesinghe supporters continued to gather outside his official home on Sunday for the second consecutive day, waving party flags and denouncing Sirisena and Rajapaksa. Buddhist monks performed religious rites to invoke blessings on Wickremesinghe.

Jayasuriya said in the letter that he received “a request to protect the rights and privileges” of Wickremesinghe “until any other person emerges from within Parliament as having secured the confidence of Parliament.” He said the request came from two senior lawmakers from the sacked prime minister’s party.

“This request is especially important in the context where various persons are reported to have issued threats via the media,” Jayasuriya said, adding that “the forcible takeovers” would have “serious international implications.”