Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena yesterday called crucial talks with political leaders in a bid to end a power struggle with the prime minister he sacked last month.
The Indian Ocean nation has been paralyzed since Oct. 26 when Sirisena deposed Ranil Wickremesinghe as prime minister and replaced him with former competitor for the presidency Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Wickremesinghe insists that he is still prime minister, while parliament voted twice last week to reject Rajapaksa.
“President Sirisena will chair a meeting of representatives of political parties in parliament today,” his office said in a statement. “The president has called this meeting in order to end the current political unrest and conflict situation, and to allow the normal functioning of the parliament.”
Brawling erupted in parliament with Rajapaksa loyalists smashing furniture, and throwing chilli powder and projectiles at rivals in a bid to disrupt a no-confidence motion against the disputed prime minister.
After the second vote against Rajapaksa on Friday, Wickremesinghe demanded that his government be restored, but there has been no response from Sirisena yet.
Wickremesinghe has said that Sri Lanka needs “stability” and that he is ready to work with Sirisena, despite the personality clash that triggered the constitutional crisis.
After sacking Wickremesinghe, Sirisena dissolved parliament on Nov. 9, but the Sri Lankan Supreme Court suspended his action and restored parliament pending a full hearing into the legality of his actions.
Meanwhile, Wickremesinghe’s United National Party (UNP) yesterday urged Facebook to safeguard the identity of its supporters on the social media platform, fearing that information-sharing with what it calls the country’s “illegal” government can lead to a crackdown against the users.
In a letter sent on Thursday to Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, the party said that such information could be used against the users “in ways which are legally prohibited.”
UNP spokesman Piyasena Dissanayaka yesterday said that Facebook blocked its official page ahead of a public rally on Thursday, but restored it on Saturday.
“It is very likely that officials from the current illegal administration ... may ask Facebook for information on selected Sri Lankan users of Facebook that should rightfully be private,” the letter said.
“Such requests may include information on named individuals, geo locations and other identification details of users who view and post on these pages,” the letter said. “It is vital this information be safeguarded as the current illegal administration will most likely use these in ways which are legally prohibited.”
Dissanayaka said that Facebook officials had not yet responded to the letter.
Facebook officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Additional reporting by AP
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