In a boost to newly appointed Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, a lawmaker from the main Tamil party, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), defected to his side and was made a Minister on Friday, even as President Maithripala Sirisena agreed to summon Parliament on November 7 for a floor test to end the political turmoil.
Mr. Rajapaksa claims he now has the numbers to prove his majority and at least five of ousted Premier Ranil Wickremasinghe’s men have defected to his side.
The current suspension of Parliament is seen as key to Mr. Rajapaksa negotiating for enough defections.
TNA MP S. Vilenthiriyan, from the eastern district of Batticaloa, on his defection was made the Deputy Minister of Eastern Development.
‘No trust motion’
Mr. Wickremesinghe’s United National Party (UNP) said it had handed over a motion of no confidence against Mr. Rajapaksa.
Senior UNP member Lakshman Kiriella said the Secretary General of Parliament had been informed of the motion.
The Rajapaksa-Sirisena combine has 96 MPs in the 225-member House. This is 17 short of the 113 required for a working majority.
Meanwhile, Parliament Speaker Karu Jayasuriya said Mr. Sirisena had agreed to summon the legislature on November 7.
Harsha de Silva, a Wickremesinghe supporter, said 115 members of Parliament belonging to different political parties, including Mr. Wickremesinghe’s UNP, the TNA and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) met Mr. Jayasuriya on Friday morning and urged the reconvening of Parliament.
Mr. Wickremesinghe has refused to accept his dismissal, claiming to be the country’s legitimate Premier.
