Sri Lanka plunges into political turmoil

President Chandrika Kumaratunga's move to suspend Sri Lanka's Parliament, which has plunged the nation into a political crisis, has also stalled Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's United National Front (UNF) from taking a decision to impeach the President.

Wickremesinghe and two of his cabinet ministers are on an official visit to the US where they are scheduled to meet President George W Bush today.

The prime minister was woken up at 2 am yesterday at Ritz Carlton hotel in Washington by UNF chairman Malik Samarawickrama with the news of Kumaratunga's surprise move.

Those sacked were Defence Minister Tilak Marapana, Interior Minister John Amaratunga and Media Minister Imitiaz Bakeer-Markar.

A terse press release from the President's Office said that these ministries were being taken over by the President "to prevent further deterioration of the security situation in the country".

The move brings under her direct control the country's armed forces and the powerful state-run media. Marapana and Bakeer-Markar were, however, allowed to keep other portfolios they held.

Immediately after the Presidential decree, service commanders were summoned to meet the President and troops were deployed at state media stations.

There was no resistance from any of these stations and the military complied fully with the orders.

The Parliament was prorogued with immediate effect. This frustrated a UNF proposal to bring a motion questioning the legitimacy of the Supreme Court in ruling whether Minister Marapana could issue a gazette that seemed to erode President Kumaratunga's powers as commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

What triggered this motion were some harsh remarks made by Chief Justice Sarath Silva against the Attorney General who supported Marapana's gazette in court last week.

The UNF government has been preparing for an adverse decision by the court and had announced plans to impeach the Chief Justice, who is considered a Kumaratunga loyalist.

The President's intentions to take the three ministries under her control were known for some time, but it was the timing that took the nation by surprise.

A senior official of Kumaratunga's People's Alliance (PA) told Gulf News that it was the Chief Justice's issue coupled with the LTTE's recent peace proposals that nudged the President to act on a pre-planned course of action.

Immediately after the news of the Presidential decree was known, two new secretaries, former diplomat Tilak Ranavirajah (Media) and former police chief Cyril Herath (Defence) took over the secretaryships, while N. Junaid remained secretary of the interior ministry. Presidential spokesman Harim Peiris took over as chairman of state-run television.

Meanwhile, Sri Lankan judges and lawyers rallied behind the Chief Justice Sarath Silva by boycotting courts and condemning the government for trying to impeach him while a case was pending.

Members of the minor judiciary kept away from courts saying that they opposed the government's move to sack the chief justice through a parliamentary impeachment process.

The judges' decision coincides with a scathing attack by the executive committee of the Bar Association, the union of lawyers, who said in a statement that the government was wrong to impeach the chief justice when a case was pending in court.

IMPASSE

Constitutional crisis
Shock move: Sri Lanka's president sacked three of the country's most powerful cabinet ministers yesterday, suspended parliament and ordered troops out in the streets of Colombo.

Fallout: The sackings of the defence, interior and media ministers comes 72 hours after the Tigers unveiled power-sharing proposals.

Prorogued: Kumaratunga also suspended parliament for two weeks. That will postpone the announcement of next year's budget, which was to have been presented in the legislature next week.

Army called out: The military said a small number of troops were ordered out as a precautionary measure. There were no signs of restiveness on the streets and rush-hour traffic was normal.

Peace process: Tamil Tigers said the president's actions had "dimmed" prospects for peace.