TEHRAN, November 04 - Sri Lanka's main Tamil party on Sunday urged the president to reconvene parliament and end a worsening political crisis, as the minority ethnic community emerge as kingmakers in the power struggle.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) - The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) could tip the balance should parliament be recalled this week to decide between two rivals both claiming the lawful right to head Sri Lanka's government.
Sri Lanka has been gripped by constitutional turmoil since President Maithripala Sirisena sacked his former ally, prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, and his cabinet on October 26.
Wickremesinghe says his dismissal was illegal as he commands a greater majority in parliament than Mahinda Rajapakse, the former strongman president controversially installed in his place.
The TNA has already said it would vote against Rajapakse in a no-confidence motion when parliament reconvenes.
Both rivals have been marshalling numbers behind the scenes, worrying civil society groups who protested Sunday in the capital Colombo against the horse-trading.
TNA legislator Dharmalingam Sithadthan said the president had called the Tamil legislators to a meeting Wednesday -- the same day parliament was expected to reconvene.
"We have asked the president to immediately call parliament and end this crisis," TNA legislator Dharmalingam Sithadthan told AFP.
Source: AFP
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